RWA Wealth Partners LLC Sells 8,178 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• RWA Wealth Partners LLC has reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. by 8.4%, selling 8,178 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 89,694 shares valued at approximately $4.07 million.
• Verizon reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings with $1.22 EPS, beating the consensus estimate by $0.03, and also a revenue of $34.50 billion, up 5.2% year-over-year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, representing a yield of 6.1%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 63.17%.

RWA Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,694 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 8,178 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $2,799,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $51,126,000 after acquiring an additional 63,474 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $44.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

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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