Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 270,613 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 48.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 827,813 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 270,613 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.6% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.15. The company had a trading volume of 19,928,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,605,586. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.81 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.37.

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).