RoundAngle Advisors LLC Invests $1.15 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RoundAngle Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 28,635 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,145,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $18,330,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $28,020,000 after buying an additional 56,534 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16,246.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 93,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Monday, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $41.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.54.

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).