RWA Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 33,474 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 69.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 81,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 33,474 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.44. The stock has a market cap of $166.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).