Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 112,859 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.8%, selling 112,859 shares, and now holds 1,544,939 shares valued at approximately $66.85 million.
• Verizon reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.19, and its revenue increased by 5.2% year-over-year to $34.50 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.68 to $0.69 per share, with a dividend yield of 6.3%, scheduled for payment on November 3rd.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,544,939 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 112,859 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $66,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $183.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36. The company's fifty day moving average is $43.57 and its 200 day moving average is $43.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.53.

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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