Advisor OS LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,710 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 401 shares during the quarter. Advisor OS LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 27,523 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,154 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 666,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,652,000 after purchasing an additional 190,409 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 960,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,428,000 after buying an additional 23,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of VZ opened at $43.16 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).