Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,676 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,223 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $6,595,000. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $239,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $1,002,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $184.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).