Freestate Advisors LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Freestate Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,703 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000. Verizon Communications comprises 0.5% of Freestate Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $250,312,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

VZ opened at $43.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.62 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

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).