Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $21.43 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 568,335 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,137 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.31. The company had a trading volume of 10,759,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,841,270. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average of $39.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $165.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% 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).