Monarch Capital Management Inc. Has $1.67 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 27.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,877 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 132,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,293,000 after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 160,587 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after acquiring an additional 16,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45,299 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.69.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

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).