Crews Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,065 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 68,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 22,470 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 104,009 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 118.7% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 105,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,471,000 after purchasing an additional 57,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 47,882 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.54 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.79 and its 200 day moving average is $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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).