Diversified Trust Co Acquires 17,393 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,796 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,393 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $38.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.85. 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 12-month low of $37.56 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).