Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the third quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 445,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,013,000 after buying an additional 88,395 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 9,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $440,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 112,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,057,000 after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 533,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $23,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 144,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.93 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).