Cullinan Associates Inc. Acquires 8,150 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 65.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 8,150 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793,595 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,299,000 after acquiring an additional 54,635 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $338,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $269,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 43.8% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 54,494 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,287,000 after acquiring an additional 16,603 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 55,259 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised 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. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,125,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,518,160. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.34 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.29. The stock has a market cap of $176.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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).