Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 436,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 199,516 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.48 and a 200-day moving average of $43.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

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).