GAMMA Investing LLC Has $2.39 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.21 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.56 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $169.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.61 and its 200-day moving average is $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).