Spinnaker Trust Has $1.20 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spinnaker Trust lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,636 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 555 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the 2nd 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 Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.06. The company had a trading volume of 4,619,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,494,576. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.40 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.37. The firm has a market cap of $172.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).