Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Increased by Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,191 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $354,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 21,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 9,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %

VZ traded down $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,374,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,495,580. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $171.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).