Todd Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 666,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,409 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week 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 market capitalization of $182.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 6.26%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten 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 MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).