AMG National Trust Bank Buys 996 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 159,085 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.87. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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).