Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,627 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,527 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,696,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,152,357. The company has a market cap of $174.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.49 and a 200 day moving average of $37.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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).