Asset Planning Inc Sells 448 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Asset Planning Inc lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 448 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.7% of Asset Planning Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Asset Planning Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the second quarter. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.8% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 91,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 19,968 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 11,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 35.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,882 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.25. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given 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 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).