Everett Harris & Co. CA Has $23.28 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 582,206 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,393 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).