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

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,014 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. JB Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,480,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,358,512. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $41.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).