Columbia Trust Co 01012016 Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Columbia Trust Co 01012016 grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Columbia Trust Co 01012016’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 658.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,361,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $50,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,766 shares during the period. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

VZ stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.88. The company had a trading volume of 17,846,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,364,316. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.26. The stock has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).