Chelsea Counsel Co. Has $413,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $29,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.95 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.61 and a 200 day moving average of $43.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

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).