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

Fiduciary Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,575 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $186.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).