Kelly Financial Services LLC Has $271,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kelly Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,033 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.40 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.62 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.20. The company has a market capitalization of $182.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).