Perigon Wealth Management LLC Buys 6,744 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,744 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 30,094 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.8 %

VZ opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.44.

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).