Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 3,140 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,987 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,140 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 3.1% of Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MBL Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 11,254 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 8,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,235 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 10,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. 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. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VZ opened at $43.68 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.65 and its 200 day moving average is $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a PE 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

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).