Park National Corp OH Sells 8,708 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Park National Corp OH cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,793 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 8,708 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $43.92. 26,553,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,175,530. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.57 and its 200 day moving average is $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $185.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).