Cora Capital Advisors LLC Invests $219,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cora Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 22,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 138,132 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,208,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,612 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $1,492,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average of $38.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).