Holistic Planning LLC Purchases Shares of 13,715 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. SpiderRock Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 207,038 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,298,000 after buying an additional 110,264 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $1,866,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 43,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,231 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 11,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 12,391 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price 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, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $170.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.38. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).