RMR Wealth Builders Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RMR Wealth Builders boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,304 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,141 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.4%

VZ opened at $43.13 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).