Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Buys 14,518 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 457,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,518 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE VZ opened at $45.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average of $41.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).