Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by BCGM Wealth Management LLC

BCGM Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $332,000. World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 32,640 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 15,449 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 39,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,000. Finally, Cabot Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 216,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,657,000 after buying an additional 7,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.77 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).