Capital Management Associates Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Capital Management Associates Inc reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,672 shares during the period. Capital Management Associates Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 50,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,906 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.2% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 41,482 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the second quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 61,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the second quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 11,070 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the second quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 48,869 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.35 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.30. 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 firm has a market cap of $174.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications’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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. This is an increase 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 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).