Capital Advisors Inc. OK Has $40.98 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,024,731 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,245 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.56. The firm has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Verizon Communications 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).