Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Sells 300 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,704 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $40.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,013,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,725,063. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.94.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).