Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 13,509 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 900,708 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,509 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $38,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,322,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,504 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,504,150,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).