Parnassus Investments LLC Buys 502,949 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 502,949 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.7% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.43% of Verizon Communications worth $815,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $678,739,000 after purchasing an additional 104,447 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,798,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,551,691. The company has a market capitalization of $176.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.20 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).