Insight Inv LLC Sells 18,650 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Insight Inv LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 39.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,283 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 18,650 shares during the quarter. Insight Inv LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE VZ opened at $41.35 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.58 and a 200-day moving average of $43.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

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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