Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Sells 371 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 127,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,777,000 after buying an additional 21,727 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 17,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 22,023.0% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,247 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 19,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $184.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. 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 EPS 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 is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

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).