Qsemble Capital Management LP Invests $1.49 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 33,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.9 %

VZ stock opened at $43.98 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 6.17%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).