HTLF Bank Takes $779,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 20,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.29. The company had a trading volume of 6,163,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,548,307. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $38.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

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).