Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 216,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 123.4% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

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 return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).