Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 1.3% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 32,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $718,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 4,046,696 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $181,737,000 after buying an additional 35,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.95. 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 cap of $183.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).