CreativeOne Wealth LLC Has $10.33 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.6%, owning 227,733 shares worth approximately $10.33 million as of its recent filing.
• During the first quarter, several other institutional investors also significantly increased their stakes in Verizon, including GQG Partners LLC with a 303.9% increase, raising its holdings to nearly 50 million shares.
• Verizon recently reported earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 5.2%.

CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 13.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 227,733 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 27,183 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,434,572,000 after buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.99 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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