Welch Group LLC Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,147,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 10,030 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.1% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $49,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 6,385,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its 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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

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).