Mirador Capital Partners LP Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,346 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 58,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 9,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 6,220 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 17,233 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.27 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.76. The firm has a market cap of $161.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).