Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas Acquires 6,544 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,090 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,544 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $224,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 20,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,229 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% during the third quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 679,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,177 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $168.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).