OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.3%, resulting in ownership of 173,018 shares, valued at approximately $7.85 million.
• Verizon's stock received multiple upgrades from analysts, with Wall Street Zen upgrading it from "hold" to "buy," and the average target price is currently $47.35.
• The company reported $1.22 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates, and set guidance for FY 2025 of $4.636-4.728 EPS.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 173,018 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 15,620 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.22. The firm has a market cap of $185.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 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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