Exeter Financial LLC Has $3.45 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Exeter Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,148 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.6% of Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $160.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.78. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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).