Stephens Consulting LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Stephens Consulting LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,325 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.8% during the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 12,760 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $39.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.48 and a 200 day moving average of $43.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

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).