Swedbank AB Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.2% during the first quarter, selling 1,088,576 shares, and now holds 4,289,346 shares in total.
• Several large institutional investors increased their stakes in Verizon, with GQG Partners raising theirs by 303.9% to 49,859,967 shares.
• Verizon recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, reflecting a 6.3% dividend yield, with an increase from its previous dividend of $0.68.

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,289,346 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 1,088,576 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.10% of Verizon Communications worth $194,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. GQG Partners LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

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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