Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 48,074 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 48,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,922,000. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.6% of Oak Thistle LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $38.33 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.76.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).