Advisory Alpha LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $38.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $163.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).