Community Bank of Raymore Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Bank of Raymore trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 662 shares during the quarter. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 93,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

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

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein began 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 on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).