Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

VZ opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.97 and its 200-day moving average is $41.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $164.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.94%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).