Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,036 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,442 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).