Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stock Holdings Boosted by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,780,886 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 139,796 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $77,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.70 on Friday. 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 $184.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 63.17%.

Verizon Communications 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).