Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 65.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,354 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 103,189 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.8% during the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,825,000 after buying an additional 12,760 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the 1st quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
NYSE VZ opened at $41.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.60 and a 200-day moving average of $43.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $174.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G 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.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. 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 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.63.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VZ
Verizon Communications Profile
(
Free Report)
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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