Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,233 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 49,084 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,490 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 17,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 440,088 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,599,000 after acquiring an additional 8,292 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.43.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).