Everett Harris & Co. CA Has $25.77 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 573,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $25,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.99. 13,058,370 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,416,428. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.26 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).