Diversify Advisory Services LLC Has $4.16 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,890 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 36,783 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $38.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

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).