First Merchants Corp Buys 2,037 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Merchants Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).