Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Emprise Bank

Emprise Bank reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 34.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,746 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,532 shares during the period. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $182.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).