Abel Hall LLC Takes $333,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,480,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,693,011. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $166.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.85.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

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).