Gray Wealth Management Inc. Has $731,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).