Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Has $7.10 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 142.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 91,909 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,200,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

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).

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