Boston Trust Walden Corp Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 3.3%, owning 298,837 shares valued at approximately $12.93 million after selling 10,057 shares in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in Verizon, with notable increases from Sargent Investment Group LLC and Providence Capital Advisors LLC.
• Verizon's dividend has been increased to $0.69 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.8%, with the payment scheduled for November 3rd.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 298,837 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 10,057 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,637,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on 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, Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.57 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $43.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm'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, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.34%.

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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