BSW Wealth Partners Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 637 shares during the quarter. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 127,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,777,000 after acquiring an additional 21,727 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 17,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 22,023.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,247 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 19,160 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $184.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.36. 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s 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).