Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Invests $326,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,158 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

VZ opened at $43.38 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $43.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $182.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.25%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).

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