Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Gilbert & Cook Inc.

Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $562,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 68,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth 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 increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 118.7% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 105,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,471,000 after buying an additional 57,275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,108,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,214,232. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $165.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.91%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).