Balboa Wealth Partners Buys 275 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,351,680.0% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 202,767 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,572,000 after purchasing an additional 202,752 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $533,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 213.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 17,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 11,932 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 64,508 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 5,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 33,653 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.81. 12,367,198 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,271,928. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $167.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.68%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.36.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).