Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Has $11.63 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 290,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.3% of Integrated Investment Consultants LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.52 during trading hours 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. The company has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The business's fifty day moving average is $41.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten 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 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).