Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,388 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 27,684 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,636,000 after acquiring an additional 502,949 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,945,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 344,367 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,464,000 after acquiring an additional 61,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.20 and a 52 week high of $45.36. 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 $176.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.49.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications 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).