HF Advisory Group LLC Has $2.92 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HF Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,103 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 13,013 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.3% of HF Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares during the period. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $325,000. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 19,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 4,877 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).