Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 8,571 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 8.3%, acquiring 8,571 shares during the second quarter, raising its total to 111,717 shares valued at $4.83 million.
• Equity analysts have raised their price targets for Verizon, with estimates now ranging from $46.00 to $50.50, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69 per share, with a resulting dividend yield of 6.9%, indicating a strong return for investors.

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,717 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 8,571 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,637,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $167.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications'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. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.34%.

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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