RBO & Co. LLC Invests $687,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

RBO & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 15,137 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,351,000 after buying an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.3840 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $187.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’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 analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.35.

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).