Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,684 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.02. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

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).