Norway Savings Bank Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Norway Savings Bank decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,423 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted 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 during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.61 on Tuesday, hitting $39.00. The stock had a trading volume of 20,987,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,241,693. 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 one year low of $37.56 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.86. The stock has a market cap of $164.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).