First Bank & Trust Sells 19,852 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Bank & Trust lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,969 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 19,852 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Founders Capital Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Citigroup raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Edward Jones cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

VZ stock opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $33.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.94. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.25 and a fifty-two week high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 6th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).