Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Buys 10,892 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 151.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,892 shares during the quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 4,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,948,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $459,398,000 after buying an additional 56,242 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 20,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 22,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,542 shares during the period. Finally, Yoder Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.64 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.84 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $175.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.12 and a 200 day moving average of $41.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).