CW Advisors LLC Buys 140,299 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

CW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 642,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,299 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 110,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 41,131 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 60,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 413,409 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,752,000 after purchasing an additional 18,661 shares in the last quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC now owns 82,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 18,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.0070 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $189.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

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).