Goodman Financial Corp Acquires 10,529 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Goodman Financial Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,529 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 2.6% of Goodman Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Goodman Financial Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $2,790,000. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 172,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 199,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,968,000 after purchasing an additional 23,711 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,663,502 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $119,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,863 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.74 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $184.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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).