St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Sells 18,305 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 28.3%, selling 18,305 shares, and now holds 46,380 shares valued at about $2 million.
• Verizon's latest quarterly earnings report showed a profit of $1.22 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and its revenue increased by 5.2% year-over-year to $34.50 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.68 to $0.69 per share, reflecting a 6.3% yield and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,380 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 18,305 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.5% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $385,750,000 after buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in 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 buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.91 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.36.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The business'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. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.65.

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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