Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.61% of Verizon Communications worth $4,983,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $178.54 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

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).