Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by First Bancorp Inc ME

First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,893 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,812 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.23 and a 200-day moving average of $43.09. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve 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 $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.34%.

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).