Columbia Asset Management Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Columbia Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,230 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.1% of Columbia Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 11,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.93 and a 200 day moving average of $40.52. The firm has a market cap of $173.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).