Burford Brothers Inc. Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Burford Brothers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,165 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.0% of Burford Brothers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1 %

VZ opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.11 and its 200 day moving average is $41.29. The stock has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).