Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Boosted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 20,900 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications 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).