R Squared Ltd Makes New $951,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $951,000. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.9% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 8,332 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Southern Style Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $3,058,000. Finally, Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,221,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on 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 shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

VZ stock opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. 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 has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).