Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd. Has $21.98 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 489,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,700 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 8.4% of Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.99 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $184.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. 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).