Round Rock Advisors LLC Makes New $213,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).