Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.59 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 64,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,770 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.54 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.43.

About Verizon Communications

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).