Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 59,245 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 48.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,995 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 59,245 shares during the quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $175.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).

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