Allworth Financial LP Buys 181,074 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 125.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 325,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 181,074 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.57. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).