Lifeworks Advisors LLC Acquires 927 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,176 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 182.7% during the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,476 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 9,356 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 116,005 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,210,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 958,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $43,030,000 after acquiring an additional 61,500 shares during the last quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 37,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,057,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $47,489,000 after purchasing an additional 589,994 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.13. 2,699,898 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,531,342. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.41. The stock has a market cap of $173.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.84 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. 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. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).