Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 7,602 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,100 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,602 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,987,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company's fifty day moving average is $41.03 and its 200-day moving average is $41.69. The company has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).