ICA Group Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,241 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ICA Group Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,566 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $166.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis 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 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

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).