American Trust Acquires New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

American Trust bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,078 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Windle Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.68.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,124,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,305,414. The company has a market cap of $172.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results 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 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.49%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).