Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Raised by New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC

New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Coastwise Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 45,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 10,929 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 22,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.47 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $166.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).