US Bancorp DE Sells 175,923 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,648,539 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 175,923 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $99,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.62. 3,279,523 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,060,348. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.31 and a 200 day moving average of $39.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $166.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.36.

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).