Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Position Lessened by Oarsman Capital Inc.

Oarsman Capital Inc. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $51,126,000 after acquiring an additional 63,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.26 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $186.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.93 and its 200-day moving average is $43.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).