Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 62.4% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 4,321,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $257,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,510 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 74.5% in the third quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 2,664,250 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $158,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,848 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.2% in the second quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,169,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $340,150,000 after purchasing an additional 994,400 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 6,512,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $387,442,000 after purchasing an additional 979,394 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 18,225,458 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,084,232,000 after purchasing an additional 937,809 shares during the period. 64.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications stock opened at $57.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $236.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $48.84 and a one year high of $61.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.67 and a 200 day moving average of $58.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $31.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 1st. Investors of record on Friday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.6275 per share. This represents a $2.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 7th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.18%.

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Moffett Nathanson raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $66.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Tigress Financial reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Sunday, November 1st. BidaskClub downgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, October 19th. They issued a “peer perform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 10,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total value of $601,027.03. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,372,299.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc offers communications, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; Internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled Internet devices, such as tablets, laptop computers and netbooks, and other wireless-enabled connected devices, such as smart watches and other wearables.

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