Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.1%, now holding 249,638 shares valued at approximately $11.32 million.
• Analysts have varied projections for Verizon, with price targets ranging from $43.00 to $49.00 and ratings from "hold" to "strong-buy."
• The recent quarterly earnings showed that Verizon reported $1.22 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, and generated revenue of $34.50 billion, which is a 5.2% increase year-over-year.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 249,638 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 9,785 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,464,774 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $58,576,000 after purchasing an additional 83,944 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 86,503 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 40,113 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,089,676 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $43,576,000 after purchasing an additional 9,661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Three investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.24 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

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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