Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,827 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

VZ opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).