Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Bill Few Associates Inc.

Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 105,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.3% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 10,636 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 989.5% during the second quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 80,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,474,000 after buying an additional 72,915 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,307,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $56,579,000 after buying an additional 42,160 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.7% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 314,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,592,000 after buying an additional 16,992 shares during the period. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the second quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 19,973 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.4%

VZ opened at $39.86 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. 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. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).