Aufman Associates Inc Sells 418 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Aufman Associates Inc lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,105 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Aufman Associates Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st 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 period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $45.0070 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $189.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).