Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Lessened by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,698 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,931 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.86. 23,987,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day moving average of $41.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for 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 firm's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped 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. Tigress Financial increased their price target on 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 objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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).