Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Boosted by Silver Oak Securities Incorporated

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 22,881 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 25,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 43,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $906,000. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 19,954 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 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 $168.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).