Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by First American Trust FSB

First American Trust FSB lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,035 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,944 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.46 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $182.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s 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).