Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. Has $295,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $173,325,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.16 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.53. The company has a market capitalization of $173.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).