Greystone Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,684 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,477 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,684 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.55 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.34 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).