Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Inspire Trust Co. N.A.

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.9%, holding 96,000 shares valued at approximately $4.36 million after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares in Q1.
• Verizon reported $1.22 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.19, with a quarterly revenue of $34.50 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.71 and a yield of 6.2%.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first 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. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first 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. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4%

VZ traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.52. 10,580,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,830,672. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.91. The company has a market cap of $183.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).