Boothe Investment Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Boothe Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Boothe Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.77 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).