Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,144 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.00 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. 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 capitalization of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).