D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 11,495 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 10th, 2023

Verizon Communications logo D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,515 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,495 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 111.8% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 61.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total transaction of $275,335.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $311,526.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $35.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $51.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.92 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $32.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.64 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 15.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6525 per share. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 7th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 50.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. HSBC dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.44.

About Verizon Communications

(Free Report)

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).