Grove Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Grove Bank & Trust trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,176 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $38.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.03 and a 200 day moving average of $41.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).