Stockman Wealth Management Inc. Has $6.82 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 151,931 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,954 shares during the quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $40.48. The stock had a trading volume of 21,305,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,749,596. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.40 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).