DMC Group LLC Boosts Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

DMC Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,755 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the quarter. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during 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 in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 33,827 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.5% in the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 3,790 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 79,163 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,592,000 after acquiring an additional 21,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 651,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,560,000 after acquiring an additional 11,875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

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).