Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas Acquires 6,544 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,090 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 6,544 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th 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 worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, hitting $40.48. 15,176,135 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,408,189. The company has a market capitalization of $170.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 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 business's fifty day moving average is $40.10 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, 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, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is 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).