Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in  Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 114,658 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 12,949 shares during the quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in  Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,782,122 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,045,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934,928 shares in the last quarter.  FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of  Verizon Communications by 15.1% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,131,882 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,341,192,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042,854 shares in the last quarter.  Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of  Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 31,576,105 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,602,490,000 after acquiring an additional 923,696 shares in the last quarter.  Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of  Verizon Communications by 30.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,763,481 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $952,245,000 after acquiring an additional 4,324,722 shares in the last quarter.  Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of  Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 18,209,501 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $924,132,000 after acquiring an additional 277,200 shares in the last quarter. 60.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 7th. Cowen reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 13th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications to $43.00 in a report on Thursday, October 27th. One investment analyst  has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned  a hold rating and six have issued  a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.58. The stock had a trading volume of 6,745,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,880,422. The stock has a market cap of $170.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $32.76 and a one year high of $55.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.18 and a 200-day moving average of $40.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS.  As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that  Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 9th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.58%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.