Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 563,901 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 75,510 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,504,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $113,004,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages lifted price targets and ratings (Citigroup to $50 with a Buy, Evercore to $50 Outperform, Scotiabank to $50.25, Morgan Stanley/JPMorgan to $49, RBC higher) — bolstering near-term upside expectations. Citigroup PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon reported a Q4 beat (EPS $1.09 vs $1.06 est.; revenue ~$36.4B vs ~$36.1B) and posted large wireless subscriber additions — fundamentals that support the rally. InsiderMonkey Q4/Subscriber Adds
• Positive Sentiment: Management actions: a raised quarterly dividend (new yield ~6.4%) plus headlines about cost cuts tied to the Frontier deal and a $25B buyback plan — both increase shareholder return potential. Yahoo Finance: Frontier deal & buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and analyst-insight pieces are circulating (Globe and Mail, Zacks, AAII) parsing valuation and whether the Q4 beat merits portfolio re‑positioning — useful reading but not an immediate catalyst. Globe and Mail analyst insights
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s stock is moving with the S&P 500 Communications Index — some of today’s move reflects sector flows rather than company-specific news. Kalkine Media
• Negative Sentiment: Senator Maria Cantwell said Verizon (and AT&T) are blocking release of key Salt Typhoon security assessment reports and called for CEOs to testify — this raises regulatory and reputational risk that investors will watch closely. Reuters: Senator on Salt Typhoon
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentaries flag margin pressure from heavy 5G and fiber investment, price lock dynamics and the potential for customer losses tied to prior price cuts — factors that could cap multiple expansion. Zacks: Margin pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Some market pieces warn Verizon may encounter technical resistance near recent highs and note CEO comments that prior price cuts hurt customer counts — caution for momentum traders. USA Today: Price cuts cost customers

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.9%

VZ stock opened at $46.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $195.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.15%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.