16,369 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Persium Advisors LLC

Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 16,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.6% of Persium Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $38.06. 13,547,378 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,769,502. The company has a market cap of $160.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued 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 7.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).