Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Has $1.22 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 419.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.68.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

VZ stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,441,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,864,543. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).