Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Buys 3,110 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,854 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,110 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 13,018 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 67,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% during the third quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 196,826 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,196 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 30,439 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the third quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 12,812 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE VZ traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.78. 16,344,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,152,758. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.53 and its 200-day moving average is $38.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

About Verizon Communications

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).