IFG Advisors LLC Buys 298 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

IFG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

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).