Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Boosted by Prentice Wealth Management LLC

Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,933 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 613 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,465,922 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,265,000 after buying an additional 76,739 shares during the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,546 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 367,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,837,000 after acquiring an additional 15,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 211,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.34 on Monday, hitting $43.84. 12,832,915 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,731,424. 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 twelve month low of $30.62 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.13.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).