Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 261,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after buying an additional 22,191 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 65,477 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,468,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $606,000. Finally, RMB Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 205,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,736,000 after purchasing an additional 23,203 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.13 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.18. 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 company has a market cap of $185.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.15%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).