Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Buys 4,224 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,881 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.29.

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).