Global Assets Advisory LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Global Assets Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 64.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,313 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 50,300 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.65 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. 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 market cap of $184.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on 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 reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

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).