Evergreen Capital Management LLC Buys 13,413 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 50.3%, owning 40,055 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million as of the last quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also significantly increased their holdings in Verizon, with GQG Partners LLC boosting its stake by 303.9% during the same period.
• Verizon reported impressive earnings, with earnings per share of $1.22, surpassing estimates and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue growth of 5.2%.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 50.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,055 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 13,413 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first 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. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.31 on Monday, hitting $44.24. 14,788,113 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,254,744. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $43.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).