First Western Trust Bank Has $294,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Western Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,625,000 after buying an additional 2,753 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,560,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $947,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VZ opened at $41.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.93 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).