Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Bridgeway Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.3%, selling 43,132 shares and leaving them with 420,817 shares valued at approximately $19 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Verizon, with Banque Transatlantique SA raising its holdings by 912.9%, now owning shares worth $379,000.
• Analyst ratings are mostly positive, with firms like JPMorgan and Bank of America raising price targets; the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $47.44.

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 420,817 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 43,132 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $19,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Belmont Capital LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $113,000. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 912.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 9,035 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,545,898 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $64,647,000 after purchasing an additional 72,515 shares during the period. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the first quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 266,475 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.44.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.78 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $43.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 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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