Waterway Wealth Management LLC Purchases 3,834 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Waterway Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,834 shares during the period. Waterway Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after acquiring an additional 535,322 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after acquiring an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $184.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.00 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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).