Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,989 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,127 shares during the quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Buffington Mohr McNeal raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 30,094 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 25,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.8 %

VZ opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research 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 $46.44.

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).