Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 20,890 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 20,890 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 43,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,629 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 597,822 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,375,000 after purchasing an additional 189,041 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 238,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,715,000 after buying an additional 22,554 shares during the period. Finally, McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.02. 19,707,390 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,883,477. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.02 and its 200 day moving average is $39.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).