Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 199,035 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors cut its Verizon stake by 44.8% in the second quarter, selling 199,035 shares and retaining 245,650 shares valued at approximately $10.4 million. Institutional investors own 62.06% of Verizon stock.
• Analysts remain mixed, with eight issuing Buy ratings and twelve assigning Hold ratings. Verizon has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $50.97.
• Verizon beat quarterly earnings expectations with $1.30 EPS versus the $1.27 consensus, but revenue fell 0.7% year over year. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.7075, equating to a 5.6% annualized yield.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 245,650 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 199,035 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the first quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 34,924 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.97.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $208.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $46.07 and its 200 day moving average is $47.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.Verizon Communications's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc NYSE: VZ is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company's consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.

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