Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,750 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 5,743 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 16,863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothe Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Boothe Investment Group Inc. now owns 24,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related 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 value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.77 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.63. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Verizon Communications Company 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).