Venturi Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Venturi Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,549 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 17,901 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 17.2% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $46.43 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.93 and a 200-day moving average of $45.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $193.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.