Centric Wealth Management Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Centric Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,754 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.4% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 758,674 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,072,000 after purchasing an additional 148,770 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.8% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 457,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,525,000 after acquiring an additional 16,876 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 194,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,710,000 after acquiring an additional 10,916 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.38 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $42.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).