MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 5,501 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,501 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.60 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.35. The firm has a market cap of $183.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).