Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,346 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,152 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,262,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $85,295,000 after acquiring an additional 56,123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).