Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 64.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $55,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. 25,452,613 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,105,430. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).