SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. Buys 10,119 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• SOA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 142.2%, acquiring an additional 10,119 shares, bringing its total holdings to 17,234 shares valued at approximately $746,000.
• Several institutional investors, including GQG Partners LLC and Pacer Advisors Inc., significantly boosted their investments in Verizon, resulting in institutional ownership of 62.06% of the stock.
• Verizon recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.3%, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.68.

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 142.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,234 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 10,119 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $385,750,000 after buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,434,572,000 after buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $184.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.37. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The business'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. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 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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