Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1%, now holding over 109 million shares valued at approximately $4.98 billion.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Verizon Communications, with eleven giving it a hold rating, seven a buy rating, and three a strong buy rating, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.3%, with a current payout ratio of 63.17%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.61% of Verizon Communications worth $4,983,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 50,414 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 18,452 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 13,623 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 255,289 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $10,209,000 after acquiring an additional 8,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 949,634 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $37,976,000 after acquiring an additional 55,003 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.94. The company had a trading volume of 15,537,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,860,102. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company's fifty day moving average is $42.70 and its 200-day moving average is $42.77. The company has a market capitalization of $181.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

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).