Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires 4,137 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 568,335 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.31. The company had a trading volume of 10,759,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,841,270. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $165.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.77%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).