Strs Ohio Purchases 269,898 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Strs Ohio lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,297,631 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 269,898 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned 0.05% of Verizon Communications worth $100,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during 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. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $66,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.9% in the second quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 27,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,189,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 4,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.49 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.40 and a 200 day moving average of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.