Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased 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 worth $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. 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 research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company 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, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).