Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after purchasing an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the 1st 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 worth $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.32. The company has a market cap of $174.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).