Columbia Trust Co 01012016 Buys 5,664 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Columbia Trust Co 01012016’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.88. The stock had a trading volume of 17,846,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,364,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.21. The firm has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).