Crescent Sterling Ltd. Has $1.23 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,671 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.3% of Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 3.0 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $37.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.56 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.29 and its 200 day moving average is $41.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company 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 yield of 7.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of 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, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications 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).