Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter, owning 49,658 shares worth approximately $2.15 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69 per share, representing a 6.3% yield and an annualized dividend of $2.76.
• Following positive quarterly earnings reports, several analysts raised their price targets for Verizon, now averaging $47.53, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,658 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 11,041 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.68 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.65 and a two-hundred day 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. 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 payout ratio is 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on 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, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.53.

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).

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