Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 998 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.40 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $173.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given 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 price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).