Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 22,706 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors 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 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).