First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Acquires 479 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

VZ opened at $44.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $186.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).