Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,381 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,629 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).