Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $48.50 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1,934.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.7% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $48,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

VZ opened at $44.34 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average is $41.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).