Todd Asset Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 30.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,005,285 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 234,142 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after purchasing an additional 867,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.
Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3%
Shares of VZ stock opened at $49.34 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $205.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.52 and a 200-day moving average of $47.29.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 73.70%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,348,276.88. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
About Verizon Communications
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.
Featured Stories
- Five stocks we like better than Verizon Communications
- Blueprint for a Boom: SEC Clears the Crypto Runway
- Ross Stores Just Flipped the Off-Price Retail Story After TJX’s Marmaxx Miss
- Advance Auto Parts Plunged, But Its Turnaround Is Still Working
- Is Palo Alto Networks Priced for Perfection Again as AI Security Demand Accelerates?
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Verizon Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Verizon Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
