Violich Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Violich Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,087 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,030 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 0.9% of Violich Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Violich Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 105,702 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,227,000 after purchasing an additional 16,349 shares during the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 55,556 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,222,000 after buying an additional 2,846 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 43,953 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,333,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.48. 15,176,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,408,189. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 6.70%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).