Arjuna Capital Takes $4 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 88,956 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,995,000. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.0% of Arjuna Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $354,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.4% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 11,572 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 5,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,629,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,522,123. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.81 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.03 and its 200-day moving average is $41.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were 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 was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).