Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Sells 5,789 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,118 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,789 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.08 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.90. The firm has a market cap of $168.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).