Citizens National Bank Trust Department Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Citizens National Bank Trust Department lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,289 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $174.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid 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 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 63.17%.

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).