Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Purchases 8,527 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,527 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.9% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.84 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.37. 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. 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. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).