Bank OZK Sells 3,456 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank OZK reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,456 shares during the period. Bank OZK’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $39.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The company has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.51.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

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).