Jennison Associates LLC Has $32.84 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 731,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,732 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $32,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 699,952 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,435,000 after purchasing an additional 23,730 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,790,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.7% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,156,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $8,122,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after buying an additional 6,388 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.57 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average of $41.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).