Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,250 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 30,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,390,000 after buying an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $184.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

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).