Mascoma Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mascoma Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 970 shares during the quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $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 second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

VZ opened at $40.35 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $169.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).