Balefire LLC Has $1.07 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Balefire LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 65.9%, now owning 24,714 shares valued at approximately $1.07 million.
• Verizon Communications reported $1.22 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $34.50 billion, up 5.2% from last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for October 10th.

Balefire LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 65.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,714 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 9,814 shares during the period. Balefire LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.76 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.39. 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 capitalization of $184.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company'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 earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

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).

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