Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC Has $224,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $224,000 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. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $38.86 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day moving average of $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid 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 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).