BSW Wealth Partners Acquires 2,868 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the quarter. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 166,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,378,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted 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. Finally, Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 30,094 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.44.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).