Boomfish Wealth Group LLC Sells 9,378 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Boomfish Wealth Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,637 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,378 shares during the quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $207,000. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 15,958 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 457,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,552,000 after buying an additional 14,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.75 and a 200-day moving average of $41.60. The firm has a market cap of $166.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).