Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC

Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.46.

Verizon Communications 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).