RWA Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,268 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).