53,623 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 53,623 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $2,408,000. Verizon Communications makes up about 2.3% of Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,560 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 5,634 shares in the last quarter. American Trust bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $213,000. Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the second quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,820 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $1,694,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.6% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,877 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.34. The company had a trading volume of 9,023,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,530,046. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).