Vest Financial LLC Buys 36,634 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 36,634 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

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).