Boothe Investment Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Boothe Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the quarter. Boothe Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Leelyn Smith LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 66,789 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 68,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,367 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 30,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 32,807 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 8,552 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.96. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).