New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,488 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 959 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the first quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 28,572 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 439.1% during the first quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 27,669 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 22,537 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 45,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 9,220 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 48,042 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.6%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.28 and its 200 day moving average is $42.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).