BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. Has $164,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,104 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 682 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of VZ opened at $46.13 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $46.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.84. The stock has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).