M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Has $788,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $207,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the second quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,563,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.6% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 71,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,147,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,671,000 after purchasing an additional 10,030 shares during the period. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 105,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.86 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.24. The firm has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. 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 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. 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 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).