Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZFree Report) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in 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 buying an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $1.01 on Thursday, hitting $42.29. 11,400,183 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,522,609. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.67 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $178.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Check Out Our Latest 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).

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

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