BTC Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,894 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,453 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,894 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BKA Wealth Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,944.6% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,422,736 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $62,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,835 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.2% in the first quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,497,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,676,000 after purchasing an additional 305,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.5% in the first quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Citigroup upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.94. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.25 and a 52 week high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The company had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.20%.

About Verizon Communications

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).