7,523 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Flywheel Private Wealth LLC

Flywheel Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,523 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $38.17 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $160.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.17 and a 200-day moving average of $41.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

About Verizon Communications

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).