Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC

Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,034 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,021 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $209,000. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the first quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 8,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 22.6% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 2,585 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.1%

VZ opened at $39.77 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).