Buffington Mohr McNeal Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.62. The company has a market capitalization of $171.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.44.

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).