Optimist Retirement Group LLC Acquires 1,047 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.1% of Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ remained flat at $41.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,445,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,316,553. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $176.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. 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).