Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Has $3.90 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,496 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,602,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $362,027,000 after purchasing an additional 341,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $41.10 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six 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, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

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).