Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys 5,883 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,337 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 42,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,910,000 after purchasing an additional 20,178 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 8,677 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 133,861 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,012,000 after purchasing an additional 8,018 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 21,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.29. 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 52-week low of $31.26 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price target 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

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).