Presper Financial Architects LLC Takes $236,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Presper Financial Architects LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,456 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.53.

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).