Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 27,896 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 970,008 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,896 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advantage Trust Co boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.43.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.42 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.