Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 8,920 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,237 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,920 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 5,718 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 29,755 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 20,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 34,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).