Peoples Bank KS Sells 785 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peoples Bank KS trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,341 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 785 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,526,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,762,088. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $185.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.08.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.14%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).