M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.8% during the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 12,760 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 13,082 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $43.48 and a 200-day moving average of $43.24.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. 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 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 given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. 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 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).