KFA Private Wealth Group LLC Buys 1,568 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

KFA Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,004 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 29,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.37. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion during 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%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

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).