Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 692 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,037 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in 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 position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $44,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Tigress Financial increased their price objective 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James raised their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.51.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.56 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio 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).