Stockman Wealth Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,648 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 17,789 shares during the quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.48. 20,439,795 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,120,484. The stock's fifty day moving average is $43.43 and its 200 day moving average is $42.26. The firm has a market cap of $179.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).