Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 151.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,454 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 6,893 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 861,988 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $38,712,000 after purchasing an additional 23,696 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.28 on Friday, hitting $42.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,452,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,105,430. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).