Meeder Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 539.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 150,825 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,256 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.20 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).