Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Acquires 1,564 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,032,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,571,000 after buying an additional 92,590 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 59.7% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 3,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 32,166 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 56,887 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 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 firm has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).