Planned Solutions Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Planned Solutions Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,964 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Planned Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,000,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,507 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $40.56 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.09. The stock has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. 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 quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on 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, Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).