Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,914 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.73. The stock has a market cap of $161.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid 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 yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).