Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications by 8.1%, holding approximately 1.77 million shares valued at $76.5 million after selling 156,309 shares in the second quarter.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, increasing from the previous $0.68, and setting an annualized yield of 6.4%.
• The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and expects to post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,768,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 156,309 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $76,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company's 50-day moving average is $43.59 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company 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. Verizon Communications's quarterly 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, sell-side analysts expect 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 6.4%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.