Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.61. 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 one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.29.

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).