Persium Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 16,369 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000. Verizon Communications comprises 0.6% of Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 168.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 20,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,852 shares during the last quarter. Williams Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,771,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,038,000. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 18,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $38.06. The company had a trading volume of 13,547,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,769,502. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.29 and its 200-day moving average is $41.80.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company 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 firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company 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).