Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Central Valley Advisors LLC

Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,471 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

VZ opened at $38.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).