Novare Capital Management LLC Purchases 8,292 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Novare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 440,088 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,292 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.5% of Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently 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 $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Eleven investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average of $40.85 and a 200 day moving average of $41.61. The firm has a market cap 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).