Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Sells 5,130,632 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. has reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 57.4%, selling over 5 million shares and now holding approximately 0.09% of the company.
• Verizon recently reported earnings with an EPS of $1.22, surpassing estimates, and has set its FY 2025 guidance range between 4.636-4.728 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, which contributes to an annual yield of 6.2%.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,806,548 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 5,130,632 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned about 0.09% of Verizon Communications worth $172,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after buying an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after buying an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after buying an additional 63,474 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $184.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $43.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.30. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.44.

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).

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