Rockland Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 431,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $385,750,000 after acquiring an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,434,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.2%

VZ stock opened at $43.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $184.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).