Secure Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,492 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 120,574 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,972,000 after buying an additional 7,809 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 5,406 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2,162.4% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 301,489 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,433,000 after purchasing an additional 288,163 shares during the period. Marathon Capital Management increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 31,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised 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 worth $42,571,000 after purchasing an additional 92,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. 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. The company has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.89 and a 200-day moving average of $41.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.29.

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).