Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Has $5.67 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 137,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 17,742 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 4th 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 period. Capital World Investors grew 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 purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.95 and its 200-day moving average is $40.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.35%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Company 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).