Everett Harris & Co. CA Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 10th, 2023

Verizon Communications logo Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 566,768 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,876,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,358,991,000 after purchasing an additional 12,189,613 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 79,682,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,134,486,000 after purchasing an additional 562,742 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 255.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,058,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,893,493,000 after purchasing an additional 34,553,565 shares during the last quarter. 61.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. HSBC decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.44.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

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

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $32.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.64 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,526.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).