Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 13,983 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 13,983 shares, bringing its total ownership to 332,475 shares valued at approximately $14.4 million.
• Verizon Communications announced a quarterly dividend of $0.69, up from the previous $0.68, reflecting an annualized yield of 6.8%, with the payment date set for November 3rd.
• Analysts have primarily issued a Moderate Buy rating for Verizon stock, with a consensus target price of **$47.63** following recent adjustments from multiple brokerages, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 332,475 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 13,983 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Platform Technology Partners increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $40.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.13. The stock has a market cap of $170.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.63.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.