US Financial Advisors LLC Buys 825 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

US Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,312 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. US Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $354,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $200,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 21,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 39.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 3,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 9,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.17 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.40 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average is $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).