Zions Bancorporation N.A. Sells 4,027 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,745 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,027 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.9% of Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,035,000 after purchasing an additional 18,346 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.81 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).