Patten Group Inc. Purchases 2,575 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Patten Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.3%

VZ stock opened at $40.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $169.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.12 and a 200-day moving average of $43.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

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).