Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 363,598 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,251 shares during the quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).