Welch Group LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,086,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 21,544 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 2.1% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $48,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Citigroup increased 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised 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. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.27 on Monday, reaching $41.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,621,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,526,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.84 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.30. The company has a market capitalization of $175.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for 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%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid 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 is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

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).