Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 52,000 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.3% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 20,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 7,349 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $279,000. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 84,640 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $40.97 and a 200 day 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. The company has a market capitalization of $164.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.94%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).