Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Boosted by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,684 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $354,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,560,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 26,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 13,247 shares during the last quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 20,709 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 42.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 720,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,212,000 after buying an additional 213,510 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial increased 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $177.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.02 and a 200-day moving average of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.20 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.43%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).