Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Sells 637 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,846 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 637 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during 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 bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).