Forza Wealth Management LLC Has $1.45 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,204 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,968,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,580,605. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.80. The company has a market capitalization of $160.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. 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 quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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).