Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.83 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $180.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.77.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).