Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV Buys 8,410 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 176,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,410 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.7% of Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).