Peoples Bank KS Has $958,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peoples Bank KS trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Baldwin Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,602,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $362,027,000 after acquiring an additional 341,056 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 93.6% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,390,756 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $52,139,000 after purchasing an additional 672,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 62,136 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 15,153 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.18. The company had a trading volume of 14,526,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,762,088. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.20 and its 200-day moving average is $41.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $185.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.14%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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).