HF Advisory Group LLC Buys 7,986 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 97,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 7,986 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.7% of HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 301.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,434,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.70 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.39. The stock has a market cap of $184.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of 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 objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.65.

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).