Roxbury Financial LLC Takes $198,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).