Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Peoples Bank KS

Peoples Bank KS trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 75,252.9% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 180.4% during the 2nd quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 17,486 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $1,237,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 14.8% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 137,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,671,000 after buying an additional 17,742 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.56 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).