Griffin Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,062,750,000 after purchasing an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company 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 given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.4%

VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.48 and its 200 day moving average is $43.24. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).