Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,332 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,492 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $368,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $136,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,479,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $281,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251,947 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $5,131,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 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 increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.27%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).