Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. 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 target on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target 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. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.69. 8,724,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,368,703. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.26 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $183.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Verizon Communications 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).