Grant Street Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Grant Street Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,407 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.34%.

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).