Sabal Trust CO Has $30.65 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sabal Trust CO raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 743,123 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,602 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.8% of Sabal Trust CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $30,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).