Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC Has $1.56 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,937 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 773,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,925,000 after purchasing an additional 40,154 shares during the last quarter. Bravias Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $405,000. Wernau Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,010,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 56,543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 10,959 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.75. 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 company has a market cap of $184.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).