Mathes Company Inc. Sells 24,800 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mathes Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 62.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,150 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 24,800 shares during the quarter. Mathes Company Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 43,791 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 151.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,454 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,893 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $400,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 294.8% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 376,312 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,049,000 after buying an additional 281,005 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.77 on Wednesday, hitting $41.97. The stock had a trading volume of 12,481,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,852,359. The firm has a market cap of $176.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).