Arvest Trust Co. N A lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 171.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,004 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,216 shares during the period. Arvest Trust Co. N A's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 23,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. McDonald Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. McDonald Partners LLC now owns 55,118 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the second quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 199,247 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $10,112,000 after buying an additional 11,838 shares in the last quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the second quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.7% in the second quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 197,236 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $10,010,000 after purchasing an additional 12,355 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 24th. Finally, Cowen cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be given a $0.6525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 9th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.42%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.58%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.

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