Perigon Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 161,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,750,000 after buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $182.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).