ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 22,132 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 337,771 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,132 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth 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 period. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.5% during the first quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 33.9% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 12,722 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 35,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of 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 cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.68 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts anticipate 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 represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a 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 (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).