Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC

Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 45,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,473 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $745,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,853 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, bLong Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $1,033,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.96 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).