CWS Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 524 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 524 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $182.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).