Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,444 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 30,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.68 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).