Meyer Handelman Co. Has $51.02 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,160,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 25,852 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.6% of Meyer Handelman Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $51,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 10.6% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,650 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,622 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 230,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the period. CRA Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.2% during the third quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the third quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,270 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.47.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.03. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $170.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.