Peoples Financial Services CORP. Has $1.93 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,005 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 957 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.85. 669,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,438,676. The company has a market cap of $184.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.99 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).