Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases 97,890 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 393,542 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 97,890 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 208.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 189,527 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,512,000 after buying an additional 128,020 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 980,222 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $42,297,000 after acquiring an additional 135,174 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.8% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 207,048 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,299,000 after purchasing an additional 16,770 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $726,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 118,777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $42.08. 11,149,384 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,359,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $42.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.85. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.46.

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).