Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 151.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 6,893 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $400,000. Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 294.8% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 376,312 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,049,000 after buying an additional 281,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 31,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 6,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.57. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. 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 firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).