Parnassus Investments LLC Has $149.88 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 80.1% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 3.3 million shares valued at $149.88 million.
• Verizon reported earnings per share of $1.22 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $34.50 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 5.2%.
• Verizon announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.2%, with a payout ratio of 63.17% as of the last quarter.

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 80.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,304,258 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 13,308,721 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $149,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. GQG Partners LLC increased its position 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first 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 last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the first 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 last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $185.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's 50-day moving average is $42.98 and its 200-day moving average is $43.22. 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 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's 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. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target 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. 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 research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

About Verizon Communications

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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