B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,396 shares during the quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $33.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.70 and a 200 day moving average of $35.95. The company has a market cap of $142.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.25 and a 12-month high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.87%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).