Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Boosted by BCGM Wealth Management LLC

BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the period. BCGM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.93 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).