Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Increased by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 85,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.3% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 13,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $169,000. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,245,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,803,000 after purchasing an additional 154,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.69 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $41.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).