Keybank National Association OH Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Keybank National Association OH lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 650,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $164.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.87. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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).