CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Buys 5,787 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,204 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. EWA LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $222,000. SimpliFi Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. SimpliFi Inc. now owns 29,046 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 12,676 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

About Verizon Communications

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).