First Financial Bankshares Inc Acquires 291 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Financial Bankshares Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $186.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-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’s 50 day moving average is $41.20 and its 200 day moving average is $41.97.

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 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 company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

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).