Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 41.6% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 60,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 57,110 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 4,323 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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).