Iowa State Bank Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Iowa State Bank increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,276 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,250 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.76. 15,375,986 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,423,523. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.86. The company has a market cap of $167.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.56 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).