First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,277 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 23,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 124,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,987,000 after buying an additional 6,945 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 27,401 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares during the last quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advocate Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 252,157 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,084,000 after buying an additional 9,554 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.54 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day moving average is $41.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.43.

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).