Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,768 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,607 shares during the quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $39.83 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).