Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $42.61 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Verizon Communications to $42.61 million after selling 16,762 shares, now holding a total of 942,332 shares.
• Verizon Communications recently declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.69, up from $0.68, which reflects a 6.2% yield.
• The company reported a 5.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $34.50 billion last quarter, outperforming analyst expectations of $33.47 billion.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 942,332 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 16,762 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,555,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.32 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company 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 issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.65.

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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