Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Has $556,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 43.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,772 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $556,000 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 made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).