City State Bank Cuts Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

City State Bank cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,471 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. City State Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $38.83 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.84 and a 200 day moving average of $42.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

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).