Tompkins Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tompkins Financial Corp lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,836 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,694 shares during the quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $2,015,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 41,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 942,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,888,000 after buying an additional 84,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Verizon Communications by 67.4% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 642,324 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,489,000 after buying an additional 258,683 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

VZ stock opened at $38.32 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 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.73. The company has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

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).