Heartland Bank & Trust Co Buys 1,160 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,263 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TT Capital Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 57.6% in the 1st quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 45,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 16,818 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. RFP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 6,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 213,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,674,000 after purchasing an additional 12,169 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).