InvesTrust Acquires New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

InvesTrust purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 149,384 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $5,956,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third 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 period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.91. 14,061,191 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,974,785. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.85. The stock has a market cap of $163.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.56 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).