Bell Bank Buys 8,973 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 193,656 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 8,973 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,853 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 135,060 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 12,001 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 125.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 325,052 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $12,661,000 after purchasing an additional 181,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $501,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,575,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,065,240. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.25. The firm has a market cap of $176.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).