5,604 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC

Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,604 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management raised its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $166.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).