Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Invests $4.73 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 105,219 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of VZ opened at $43.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $181.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).