Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 148,878 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,442,000 after purchasing an additional 21,522 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 51,185 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,143 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 28,417 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America upped their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.65 and a 200 day moving average of $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).