Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 23.8% in Q2, raising its total holdings to 205,416 shares valued at approximately $8.89 million.
• Several other institutional investors also modified their positions in Verizon, with 62.06% of the company's stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Verizon recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 6.8% and a payout ratio of 64.34%.

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 23.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triton Wealth Management PLLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $413,000. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 16,159 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 32,060 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 111,717 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 8,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmp Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 47,131 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company's fifty day moving average price is $43.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.34%.

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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