Community Bank of Raymore Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Bank of Raymore lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 662 shares during the period. Community Bank of Raymore’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,330,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.6% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,020,000 after purchasing an additional 56,534 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16,246.1% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 93,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 3,792 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company 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).