Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 8,685 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 364,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,356,000 after purchasing an additional 30,316 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 324,831 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,588,000 after acquiring an additional 18,599 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 56,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 488,858 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,955,000 after purchasing an additional 23,030 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 393,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,674,000 after purchasing an additional 97,890 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.85. 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 has a market capitalization of $177.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.46.

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).