Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,497 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,574 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 105,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,558,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,147,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,671,000 after buying an additional 10,030 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.6% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 71,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,082,000 after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the second quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $47.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $47.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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.