First Western Trust Bank Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Western Trust Bank lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Avion Wealth raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 208.2% during the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $37.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $42.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.44. The company has a market cap of $155.72 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.27 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 53.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Raymond James reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Tigress Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).