Sabal Trust CO Buys 23,823 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sabal Trust CO raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 747,966 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 23,823 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.9% of Sabal Trust CO's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sabal Trust CO's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,200,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $82,996,000 after acquiring an additional 20,610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0%

VZ stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.11. The company had a trading volume of 15,860,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,103,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.22 and a 200 day moving average of $42.21. The company has a market cap of $177.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).