World Investment Advisors LLC Has $8.51 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 208.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 189,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,020 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average is $41.85. The stock has a market cap of $177.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 8th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.46.

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).