Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Acquires 899 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 899 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st 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. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,062,750,000 after purchasing an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.9%

VZ stock opened at $43.43 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.Verizon Communications’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 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

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).