Perpetual Ltd Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 27.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,984 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 35,089 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the first quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 53,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Stableford Capital II LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $201,000. Montecito Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the first quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 34,838 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,048,902 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $44,012,000 after acquiring an additional 11,684 shares during the period. Finally, Stolper Co grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.3% during the first quarter. Stolper Co now owns 45,942 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 6,437 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.25. The stock had a trading volume of 17,702,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,774,133. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.91. The stock has a market cap of $169.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).