Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ is Tobam’s 3rd Largest Position

Tobam boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,234 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 16,163 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 2.9% of Tobam’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Tobam’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the first quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 106,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,853,000 after buying an additional 8,005 shares in the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,434 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 63,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $40.72 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $171.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.71 and a 200 day moving average of $42.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

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).