Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 356,702 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 527 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $16,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 24,005 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 4,230 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 93,214 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,911,000 after buying an additional 5,631 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $360,000. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 7,588 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.99. 13,058,370 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,416,428. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.29. The firm has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.26 and a 52-week 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:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

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).