Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Ingalls & Snyder LLC

Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after buying an additional 57,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $44.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,354,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,377,248. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $185.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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 given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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).