LVW Advisors LLC Buys 8,028 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• LVW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 19.1%, acquiring an additional 8,028 shares, bringing their total holdings to 49,956 shares worth approximately $2.16 million.
• Verizon's recent earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $1.22, exceeding expectations, along with a revenue of $34.50 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 5.2%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, indicating an annualized dividend yield of 6.3%, up from the previous dividend of $0.68.

LVW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 19.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,956 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares during the period. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on 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 price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. 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 50-day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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