OneAscent Financial Services LLC Has $482,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,540 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 18,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 125,611 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,641,000 after buying an additional 6,851 shares in the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 162,931 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,317,000 after buying an additional 7,178 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 204,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,206,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,901,677 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $220,134,000 after buying an additional 994,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $178.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.20 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).