Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Proffitt & Goodson Inc.

Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.8% in the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,760 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.5% in the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 68.4% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $174.70 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).