BankPlus Trust Department Buys Shares of 6,323 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,323 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $182.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications 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).