Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,048 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,770 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $726,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 118,777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,334,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $611,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,850,000 after acquiring an additional 9,846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $42.00 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $176.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.46.

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).