Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Acquires 555 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 919,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,587,000 after acquiring an additional 21,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advocate Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 242,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,895,000 after purchasing an additional 11,845 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.00 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.62 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.23.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).