Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Sells 6,701 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,857 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,701 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % 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. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,787,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,171,746. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.02. The stock has a market cap of $187.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.09%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).