Marshall Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,022 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. 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).