Ledyard National Bank Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,426 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.26 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.01 and its 200 day moving average is $41.28. The company has a market cap of $174.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).