Root Financial Partners LLC Invests $311,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,774 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).