Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Sells 248 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $97,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,750,000 after buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,434,572,000 after buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $182.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.35. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).