Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 219,406 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,806 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,245,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,803,000 after purchasing an additional 154,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gray Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.67 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).