SHP Wealth Management Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 22,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE VZ opened at $45.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.02%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.