Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 1.2% during Q1, owning approximately 368.2 million shares worth $16.7 billion.
• Several institutional investors, including Bernard Wealth Management Corp. and Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC, substantially raised their positions in Verizon, indicating increased interest in the company.
• Verizon recently reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.22, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, resulting in a dividend yield of 6.3%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.73% of Verizon Communications worth $16,700,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 29.8% in the first quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 69,385 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,191 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 109,176 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,952,000 after acquiring an additional 4,612 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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 raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.35. The stock had a trading volume of 17,800,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,145,494. The business's 50 day moving average price is $42.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $178.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The company 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%. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 63.17%.

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).