Cherokee Insurance Co Takes $619,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Cherokee Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 14,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $240,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.0% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 18,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 37,251 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 16,831 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.81 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).