Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $3.51 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,225 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,051 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $40.39 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $170.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).