Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,754 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,220 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 17,854 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares in the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 143,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,422,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,403 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 12,911 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,077,000 after purchasing an additional 33,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.21. 5,516,982 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,088,883. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $164.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).