Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Purchases 81,528 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 750,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 81,528 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.6% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $40.48. The stock had a trading volume of 21,305,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,749,596. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.38. The company has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. 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 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).