Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,955,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $132,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.40 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.90 and its 200 day moving average is $41.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).