Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 3,288 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,288 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,079,000 after buying an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price 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. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.40. The company has a market capitalization of $183.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 3.37 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

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).