Apella Capital LLC Purchases 7,641 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Apella Capital LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 43.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,212 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,641 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $385,750,000 after buying an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,434,572,000 after buying an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

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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