Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 536,504 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,540 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.65. 21,482,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,991,828. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.93 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).