Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC

Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,914 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).