Concord Asset Management LLC VA Purchases 1,367 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $800,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.65 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.93 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).