Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 78.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 29,251 shares during the quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.52. The company had a trading volume of 11,083,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,115,880. The stock has a market cap of $187.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 simple moving average of $43.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.02. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 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).