Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Opal Wealth Advisors LLC

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 67.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,490 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares during the quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.26. The stock has a market cap of $184.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).