Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,233 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 131,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 15,989 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 30,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 824,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,036,000 after purchasing an additional 22,147 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 278,123 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,491,000 after buying an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average of $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $173.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.84 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).