Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 501,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,818 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

VZ stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.51. The company has a market capitalization of $179.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).