Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Key Points

• Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its stock holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 174,132 shares valued at $7,535,000.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69 per share, representing a 6.3% yield and a boost from the previous dividend of $0.68.
• Wall Street analysts have expressed optimism for Verizon, with several upgrades, raising the average price target for the stock to $47.65 and numerous "buy" ratings from various firms.

Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,132 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 46,981 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,007,000 after acquiring an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after buying an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after buying an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. 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 research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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 research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.30. 9,464,541 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,889,328. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 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).