APG Asset Management N.V. Has $217.12 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3%, owning approximately 5.17 million shares valued at $217.12 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Verizon Communications, with Bank of America setting a target at $49.00 and Royal Bank of Canada at $46.00, indicating a positive outlook.
• Verizon recently reported $1.22 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing forecasts, with a revenue of $34.5 billion and an annualized dividend yield of 6.1%.

APG Asset Management N.V. lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,170,516 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 16,270 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $217,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th 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. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 19,228 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 200,583 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 509,961 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $20,393,000 after purchasing an additional 50,184 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.3840 on Friday. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $42.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.10. The company has a market cap of $187.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's 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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