Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Lessened by Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA

Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,739 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for 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%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus 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).