Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Sunflower Bank N.A.

Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.00. 10,658,662 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,587,283. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.62 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.23.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).