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

Round Rock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.41 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.57. The company has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).