MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC Has $366,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. One Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 34.9% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,015,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 41,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $348,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE VZ opened at $38.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 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. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.10%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lifted 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, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).