Modus Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,375 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.26 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’s fifty day moving average price is $41.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.56 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.51.

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).