Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank of New Hampshire lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,297 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.73. 2,506,076 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,592,207. The company has a market capitalization of $167.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.86. 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 52-week low of $37.56 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.82%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).