Coastwise Capital Group LLC Purchases 628 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Coastwise Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.5% of Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 22,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 68,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during 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. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.47 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.69 and its 200-day moving average is $41.58. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $166.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 4.21 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).