Apollon Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 12.4%, selling 16,281 shares during the second quarter, resulting in holdings valued at $4,998,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have recently increased their positions in Verizon, with Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raising its stake by 81.0% during the first quarter.
• Verizon announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69 per share, reflecting a yield of 6.9%, with the next payment scheduled for November 3rd.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,501 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 16,281 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $29,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment 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, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $43.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications'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. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given 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 yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 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).

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