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

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 720,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $28,814,000 after acquiring an additional 45,885 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 39,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after buying an additional 8,481 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 26,994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 13,720 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, LexAurum Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 14,030 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

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).