Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,883 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Company 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).