Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZFree Report) by 231.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,179 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $53,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.17. 3,105,394 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,509,105. The company has a market cap of $181.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.59 and a 200-day moving average of $41.22. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.62 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Free Report)

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).

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

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