Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Trimmed by Citizens Business Bank

Citizens Business Bank decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,176 shares during the period. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.49. 20,216,529 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. The company has a market cap of $166.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).