Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Newly Acquired by One Way Holdings LLC

One Way Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 348,808 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $16,000,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 6,588 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,229,866 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $56,414,000 after purchasing an additional 28,707 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the third quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 5,803 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. True Freedom Investing LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the third quarter. True Freedom Investing LLC now owns 136,996 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,284,000 after purchasing an additional 6,438 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Group LLC IL acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $211,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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 twelve month low of $38.68 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.05.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $516,373. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.