Total Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 4,895 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 101,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,278,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 158,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,630,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 4,832,361 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $187,931,000 after buying an additional 179,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.4% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VZ opened at $40.24 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.41. 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 company has a market capitalization of $169.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial raised their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).