Diversified Trust Co Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Diversified Trust Co lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 62.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,919 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 31,640 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.3% during the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 37,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,578,000 after buying an additional 6,091 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 22,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the first quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 32,237 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.7% during the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 45,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,906,000 after buying an additional 9,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.6% during the first quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 110,729 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,441,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.13 and a 200-day moving average of $40.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).