Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 989.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 80,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,915 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its stake 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. 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 market cap of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).