Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,585,971 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,901 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.6% of Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Verizon Communications worth $205,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastwise Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 45,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 209,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 261,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,722,000 after acquiring an additional 44,703 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 152,853 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,865,000 after acquiring an additional 21,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $44.34 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

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. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. 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 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).