International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,144 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,889 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $40.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.09.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. 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 is presently 64.34%.

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).