61,007 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Bought by Caldwell Trust Co

Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 61,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,640,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its position in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% during the second quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE VZ opened at $40.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $172.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.31.

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).