Blue Trust Inc. Has $1.96 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 49,084 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased 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. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.44.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).