Genesis Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 6,970 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,970 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.00 and a 200-day moving average of $41.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).