Investment Advisory Group LLC Reduces Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Investment Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James increased 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.66. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).