Eastern Bank Purchases 162,131 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 206.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 162,131 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.3% during the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the first quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 32,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Community Bank of Raymore lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the first quarter. Community Bank of Raymore now owns 6,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, DLK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $2.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,601,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,458,227. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.28. The company has a market cap of $175.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

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).