Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Bank of Stockton

Bank of Stockton reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,522 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).