Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH Sells 5,643 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,643 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital World Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $250,312,000. Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Verizon Communications by 419.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $45.04 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders 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 6.02%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).