Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Sells 10,209 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

by · The Cerbat Gem

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZFree Report) by 36.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,976 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,209 shares during the quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,904,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,433,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,733 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after buying an additional 557,576 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,238,866,000 after buying an additional 1,203,445 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $992,939,000 after buying an additional 646,537 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.56.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $49.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 68.15%.

About Verizon Communications

(Free Report)

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.

Further Reading

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