Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 25th, 2023

Verizon Communications logo Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,698 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,648 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.5% of Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 349,590,768 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,273,960,000 after buying an additional 3,857,646 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 319,233,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,121,282,000 after buying an additional 3,133,547 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,028,281 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,266,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,454 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,876,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,358,991,000 after purchasing an additional 12,189,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 79,682,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,134,486,000 after purchasing an additional 562,742 shares in the last quarter. 61.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.44.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total transaction of $275,335.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $311,526.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total transaction of $275,335.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $311,526.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $126,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,901,490. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,267 shares of company stock worth $533,293. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.9 %

VZ stock opened at $35.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $52.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.27. The firm has a market cap of $149.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The firm had revenue of $32.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 7th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.35%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.78%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).