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

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,468 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,165 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 153.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,806,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $115,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,619 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.69. The company had a trading volume of 11,034,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,380,078. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.27. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $183.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. 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).