Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 4,565 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,019 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,565 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $29,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm 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 business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

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).