Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 22,706 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,629 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 22,706 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.86. 23,987,092 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market cap 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day moving average is $41.69.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. 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%.

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).