Oakworth Capital Inc. Sells 311 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,927 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $173.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.00 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.26 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).