Leslie Global Wealth LLC Has $404,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Leslie Global Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 78.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,992 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,953 shares during the quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.26 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.40 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).