Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 2.2% in the second quarter, owning 415,464 shares valued at approximately $17.98 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Verizon, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. setting a new target of $49.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Verizon recently boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $0.68, and resulting in an annual yield of 6.9%.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,464 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 9,120 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

VZ opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.21. The company has a market cap of $167.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).

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