Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Acquires 8,466 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,466 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,032,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,571,000 after purchasing an additional 92,590 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 44.8% in the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 59.7% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 3,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 32,166 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 4,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 56,887 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

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).