Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $652,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, hitting $39.49. 20,216,529 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.43 and a 200-day moving average of $38.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).