Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 49,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.4% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 307,514 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,682,000 after buying an additional 29,082 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 36,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 152,304 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 24,016 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 60.9% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 20,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 100,241 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.86 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.03 and a 200 day moving average of $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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).