Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 6,822 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6%, selling 6,822 shares and owning 1,050,793 shares valued at approximately $47.66 million.
• Verizon reported $1.22 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, with a revenue increase of 5.2% year-over-year, amounting to $34.5 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.2% and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,050,793 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,822 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $47,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $42.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.18. The firm has a market cap of $185.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business'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. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications 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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