US Bancorp DE Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,929,473 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 272,729 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $87,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the first quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,860 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.0% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the last quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 10,136 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 24,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).