4,522 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc.

Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,522 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $181,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 360.1% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 34,227 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 26,788 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shore Point Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.88 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.18 and its 200-day moving average is $41.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).