Equity Investment Corp Purchases 35,049 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,046,696 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 35,049 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 4.2% of Equity Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.10% of Verizon Communications worth $181,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $92,445,000 after buying an additional 57,583 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $222,500,000 after acquiring an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,035,000 after acquiring an additional 18,346 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $42.29. 17,405,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,590,928. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.20 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.47.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).