Old North State Trust LLC Sells 587 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Old North State Trust LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 587 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.8% of Old North State Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 9,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 19,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Harrington Investments INC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 38,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $33.79 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.25 and a 1 year high of $42.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $32.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.87%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).