Truist Financial Corp Has $160.20 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,645,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 188,314 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $160,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.93.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.34 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.58. The stock has a market cap of $165.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.