Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Cut by CHICAGO TRUST Co NA

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,303 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after buying an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.18 on Monday, reaching $37.99. The company had a trading volume of 7,343,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,889,336. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $159.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average of $41.80. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).