Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.9% in Q1, holding 635,977 shares valued at approximately $28.8 million.
• Verizon reported earnings of $1.22 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with revenues of $34.5 billion, a 5.2% increase from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.1%, as of the most recent payment date on August 1st.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 635,977 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 178,254 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.6% of GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. One Wealth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. One Wealth Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 18,439 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,161 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 249,638 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $11,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,785 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 979,546 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $44,432,000 after purchasing an additional 12,781 shares during the period. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 299.7% during the first quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 34,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 25,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.78. 21,110,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,573,251. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.44.

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).