Heritage Trust Co Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Heritage Trust Co increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 179.5%, acquiring an additional 25,796 shares, bringing its total holdings to 40,170 shares valued at approximately $1.82 million.
• Verizon's earnings report for the quarter revealed an EPS of $1.22, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $34.5 billion, up 5.2% compared to the prior year.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Verizon, with an average target now set at $47.35, reflecting a general recommendation of "Moderate Buy" among investment analysts.

Heritage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 179.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,170 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 25,796 shares during the period. Heritage Trust Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,473,557,000 after purchasing an additional 990,775 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,418,052 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,096,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.96. The stock had a trading volume of 13,624,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,659,588. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $42.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.72. The company has a market cap of $181.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications 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).