Socha Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Socha Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 0.2% of Socha Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Socha Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $354,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,739,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 60,354 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after buying an additional 8,920 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.9% during the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 2,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 233.2% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 59,536 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 41,669 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.06. 4,619,990 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,494,576. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $172.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.40 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average is $41.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost 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 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).