Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Acquires 1,128 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.3% in the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 26,318 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 109,308.7% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 75,492 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after buying an additional 75,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,164,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.9%

VZ opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $182.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

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).