Retirement Planning Group LLC Has $1.31 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Markets Daily

Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 41.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 8,580 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.62 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $181.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.23.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

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).

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