First Horizon Advisors Inc. Purchases 40,501 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 855,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,501 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 1.1% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $38,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $176.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.49. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.20 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).