Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,530 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,038 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,935,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,606,133. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.58 and a 200-day moving average of $38.10. The stock has a market cap of $166.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).