Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 175,546 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,907 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after acquiring an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $173.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).