First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 48.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,353 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 20,031 shares during the quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.12. The company had a trading volume of 13,703,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,017,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $186.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $43.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).