LifePlan Financial LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

LifePlan Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $946,000 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 VZ. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,949 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 664,719 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,582,000 after acquiring an additional 19,661 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 12,860 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co increased its position in Verizon Communications by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 19,637 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 772,873 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,907,000 after purchasing an additional 22,857 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.86 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.68. The firm has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 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 company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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).