ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Sells 13,373 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 343,329 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 13,373 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.78. 27,325,781 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,425,662. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.56 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.79. The company has a market capitalization of $159.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).