Blair William & Co. IL Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,288 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,964 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $27,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued 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 target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

VZ opened at $40.85 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $172.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.34%.

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).