Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC Has $233,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,190 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 484 shares during the period. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,495,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,645,986. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.36 and its 200 day moving average is $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.62 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

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).