Rathbones Group PLC Sells 27,977 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 591,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 27,977 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $173,325,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $187.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $44.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications 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).