Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,325 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,810 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Citigroup upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Edward Jones downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.25 and a 12-month high of $42.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.94.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 6th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 52.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).