Tradition Wealth Management LLC Sells 434 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Tradition Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 434 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Scotiabank upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $45.0070 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.04. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).