Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,048 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 16,770 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $726,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 118,777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $611,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,850,000 after buying an additional 9,846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,210,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,359,039. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's fifty day moving average is $42.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.85.

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 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 last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.46.

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).