Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Holdings Decreased by Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,701 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,720 shares during the quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,062,750,000 after purchasing an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,904,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.65.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.99 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month 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 market capitalization of $185.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change 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 is presently 63.17%.

Verizon Communications 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).