Level Four Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7%, selling 12,680 shares and now holding 152,188 shares valued at approximately $6.9 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GQG Partners LLC and Nuveen LLC, increased their holdings in Verizon during the first quarter, contributing to a total of 62.06% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Verizon's latest earnings report showed a 5.2% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $1.22, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.03.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 152,188 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,680 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.9350 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm'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, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three 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, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

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).

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