Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Has $16.18 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 404,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 11,082 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $16,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $224,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 131,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,915,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 241,045 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).