Dover Advisors LLC Sells 10,739 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Dover Advisors LLC sold 10,739 shares of Verizon Communications Inc., reducing its holdings by 43.3% in the second quarter, leaving it with 14,049 shares valued at approximately $608,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Verizon, with Kestra Investment Management LLC growing its holdings by 121.8% in Q1, owning 176,531 shares worth $8,007,000.
• Verizon declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, reflecting a slight increase from the previous $0.68, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.3%.

Dover Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,049 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 10,739 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.99 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $185.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.38.

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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications Company 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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