Chemung Canal Trust Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,157 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 912 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.89 and a 200 day moving average of $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.29.

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).