Truist Financial Corp Sells 65,429 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Truist Financial Corp cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,395,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 65,429 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $98,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 17,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 345,952 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,042,000 after purchasing an additional 10,672 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $45.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $190.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.00%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

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).