Corps Capital Advisors LLC Invests $571,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Corps Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,280 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,091,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.49. 19,757,659 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,033,547. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).