New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $154.84 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,578,419 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $154,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Uptick Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 18,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 9,333 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.8% during the second quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 8,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 144,973 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 7,326 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.3% during the second quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 53,120 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 4,535 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Company 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).