Berger Financial Group Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,794 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.3% during the first quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 30,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America upped 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.68 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $184.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. 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. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).