Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Lifted by Inspire Trust Co. N.A.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,559 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 13,319 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,283,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,338,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.14 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.85. The firm has a market cap of $177.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).