Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.26 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $173.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.40 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).