Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,444 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 30,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $184.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).