Saxon Interests Inc. Raises Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Saxon Interests Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,013 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,491 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $44.10. 3,035,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,610,805. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.18.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).