Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Sells 5,021 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,975 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,021 shares during the period. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5,103.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,113,556 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $141,231,000 after buying an additional 3,053,715 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 26.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71,972 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 15,066 shares during the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 33,866 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after buying an additional 5,452 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,138,223 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $369,150,000 after purchasing an additional 47,433 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

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).