Heritage Trust Co Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,374 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $44.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,212,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,118,200. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.24 and a 200-day moving average of $42.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.92.

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).