Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,090 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 6,544 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.94. The stock had a trading volume of 7,807,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,265,961. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $172.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).