Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Has $2.76 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,319 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 17,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 5,066 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC now owns 9,958 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 89,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,079,000 after acquiring an additional 16,823 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $183.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. 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).