Lifeworks Advisors LLC Purchases 927 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,176 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.13. 2,699,898 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,531,342. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.84 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.41. The firm has a market cap of $173.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).