Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Acquires 492 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. 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 one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.44.

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).