Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Hengehold Capital Management LLC

Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 97,938 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,197 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $250,312,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 153.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,806,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $115,729,000 after buying an additional 1,700,619 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $184.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.99 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

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).