Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Lifted by Community Bank of Raymore

Community Bank of Raymore raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the quarter. Community Bank of Raymore’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,572,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,752,492. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.02 and its 200-day moving average is $39.98. The company has a market capitalization of $171.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).