One Way Holdings LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

One Way Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 348,808 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $16,000,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,743,274,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,794 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,164,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,915,882,000 after acquiring an additional 6,580,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 32,734,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,643,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,882,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $884,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $47,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,251,238. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Freedom Broker raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $44.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.68 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.04 and a 200-day moving average of $46.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.19%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.