Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Has $1.84 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 8,466 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS 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 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 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

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).