Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently 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).