Bay Capital Advisors LLC Takes $440,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,014 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $3,376,000. Burney Co. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.02. The company has a market cap of $183.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).