Bank & Trust Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank & Trust Co cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.4% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $48,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.36. 11,766,054 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,880,766. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.56 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $165.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” 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).