Empirical Finance LLC Has $6.49 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,182 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $354,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 383,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,098,000 after acquiring an additional 45,479 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 64,789 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,775 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $31,263,000. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $837,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.02 and a 200-day moving average of $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.93 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $172.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen increased 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications 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).