Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by GLOBALT Investments LLC GA

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,902 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 46,559 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $354,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,559 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,625,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,560,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Raymond James increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.68 on Monday, hitting $42.33. 8,144,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,549,416. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.20 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $178.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).