10,666 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by American National Bank & Trust Co. VA

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 41,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 22,867 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Kenfarb & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 56.0% during the third quarter. Kenfarb & CO. now owns 22,655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JT Stratford LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 135.3% during the third quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 36,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 20,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

VZ stock opened at $41.12 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications 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).