WealthCare Investment Partners LLC Invests $484,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

WealthCare Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.91 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $185.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.39.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. 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 currently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.65.

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).