Cadinha & Co. LLC Purchases 2,638 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,026 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares during the quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 17,041 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $636,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 73,103 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 13,013 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day moving average is $41.69. The company 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.

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, topping 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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