Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,276 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st 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. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. 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 company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

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).