Commerce Bank Sells 48,923 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank has reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 7.4%, selling 48,923 shares and retaining 612,984 shares valued at approximately $27.8 million.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Verizon, with a consensus price target of $47.35 and ratings ranging from “buy” to “hold” reflected in recent reports.
• Verizon announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.3%, following a strong earnings report with a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.2%.

Commerce Bank cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 612,984 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 48,923 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $27,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $483,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 54,243 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $899,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day moving average of $42.66. The company has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications 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).

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