Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 1,871,556 shares of Verizon Communications, valued at approximately $84.9 million, during the first quarter.
• Verizon reported $1.22 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a 5.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $34.5 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus price target of $47.44 for Verizon, with ratings varying from "Strong Buy" to "Hold".

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,871,556 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $84,894,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 286,220 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $12,983,000 after buying an additional 35,695 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 91,835 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,566 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,266,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $57,437,000 after acquiring an additional 38,745 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 6,176,159 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $280,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,121,097 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,853,000 after acquiring an additional 165,449 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,197,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,191,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.65.

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).