30,300 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Acquired by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 30,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,311,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 22,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.0% in the first quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the first quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,155 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.4%

VZ opened at $39.86 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).