Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Purchases 27,138 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,138 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $481,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 13.7% during the third quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).