Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 561,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 89,100 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.9% of Payden & Rygel's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Payden & Rygel's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $25,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,701,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,537,789. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $177.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.50.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.42%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).