Nilsine Partners LLC Purchases 3,090 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Quarry LP increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 57.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,763 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $129,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 112,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,639,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 99,508 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid 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 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. 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, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities 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 MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.44.

About Verizon Communications

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).