Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Field & Main Bank

Field & Main Bank increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 775 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 27,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 4,647 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $250,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.5% in the first quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 16,208 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.2%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).