Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Invests $1.90 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 49,657 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,901,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised 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. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.86. 23,987,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.03 and a 200 day moving average of $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).