Reik & CO. LLC Buys 1,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Reik & CO. LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Reik & CO. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.56. The stock has a market cap of $168.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. 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 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued 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 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).