Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC Has $353,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the first quarter, now holding shares valued at $353,000.
• Verizon reported a net margin of 13.28% and annual quarterly revenue growth of 5.2%, beating earnings estimates with $1.22 per share for the latest quarter.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.69, reflecting an annualized payout of $2.76 and a dividend yield of 6.2%.

Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 69.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,783 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 17,860 shares during the quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.36. 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 moving average of $43.20 and a 200-day moving average of $43.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.65.

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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