Putney Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

21 Jun 2025, 13:24 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

Putney Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 890 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.70 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

About Verizon Communications

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