FCG Investment Co Has $1.72 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• FCG Investment Co significantly increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 400.7% in the second quarter, owning 39,692 shares valued at around $1.72 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GQG Partners and Pacer Advisors, also made substantial investments in Verizon, indicating a trend of increased institutional ownership, currently at 62.06%.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 6.4%, reflecting commitment to returning value to shareholders.

FCG Investment Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 400.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,692 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 31,765 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.9% of FCG Investment Co's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. FCG Investment Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $385,750,000 after acquiring an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).

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