Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 0.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 364,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $25,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.
Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.4%
Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.86 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.24. The company has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. 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).
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