Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 250,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,510,000 after purchasing an additional 12,651 shares during the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 21,743 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 18,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 244,071 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,241,000 after acquiring an additional 25,300 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 14,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.34 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).