KKM Financial LLC Purchases 3,468 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

KKM Financial LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,422 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,468 shares during the quarter. KKM Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,781,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,459,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $65,567,000 after purchasing an additional 206,921 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 28,484 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 9,880 shares during the period. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 64,836 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.90 and its 200 day moving average is $41.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. 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 payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).