Foster Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Foster Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,474 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.87 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.62 and a one year high of $45.36. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.13. The company has a market cap of $184.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. 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 dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted 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. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James increased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

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).