Successful Portfolios LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Successful Portfolios LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 254 shares during the quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.8% during the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,825,000 after buying an additional 12,760 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 13,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 2,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $184.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a 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 (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

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).