Banque Transatlantique SA Acquires 8,143 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Banque Transatlantique SA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 912.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 8,143 shares, bringing its total holdings to 9,035 shares valued at approximately $379,000.
• Multiple institutional investors have also raised their positions in Verizon, including AQR Capital Management, which grew its stake by 41.9% to over 5.2 million shares valued at $237.55 million.
• Analysts have generally upgraded Verizon's stock ratings, with three rating it as a Strong Buy and elevating the consensus price target to $47.44.

Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 912.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,035 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares during the quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,236,997 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $237,550,000 after buying an additional 1,545,898 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,425,207 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $64,647,000 after acquiring an additional 72,515 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 266,475 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $12,087,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,656 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,206 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.44.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.71 on Thursday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $43.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $184.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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