MBL Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

MBL Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,254 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the quarter. MBL Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $184.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).