Trajan Wealth LLC Has $5.93 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Trajan Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,972 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,565 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third 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. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.84 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.13 and its 200-day moving average is $41.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).