HF Advisory Group LLC Has $2.92 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,103 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 13,013 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.3% of HF Advisory Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. HF Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.86. The stock had a trading volume of 23,987,092 shares, 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS 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 given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

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).