Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 205,282 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,210 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.8% during the first quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,760 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $174.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.30. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Company 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).