NBT Bank N A NY Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

NBT Bank N A NY cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,022 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,807 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 4.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $46.13 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.84. The stock has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $46.20.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

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).