Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is Miramar Capital LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Miramar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 445,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,395 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 4.7% of Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.65 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.93 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.42. The company has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).