Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 512,099 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,885,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 512,099 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Verizon Communications worth $514,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after buying an additional 1,101,504 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $173.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.54.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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).