AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 631,725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 185,793 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.35. 10,335,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,517,563. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.14 and its 200-day moving average is $41.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.67 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

About Verizon Communications

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).