Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,370 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE: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. The stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. 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 payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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).