Sunflower Bank N.A. Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $38.09. The stock had a trading volume of 19,700,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,753,027. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $160.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.80.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.11%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

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).