Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 31,204 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,204 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,904,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,433,114,000 after buying an additional 1,117,733 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after buying an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,504 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.28.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded Verizon from “sector perform” to “sector outperform” and raised its price target to $54.50, signaling analyst confidence and providing upside near-term pressure support. Scotiabank upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street note: recent analyst attention and upgrades (cited by 247WallStreet) put Verizon back on analysts’ radars, which can attract flows from institutional investors and help the stock recover. Verizon and ITT Are on Analysts’ Radar
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion activity tied to the Samsung Galaxy S26 rollout has increased industry-wide handset promotions; this raises competition for new activations and trade-in incentives — a potential margin/headline risk for carriers but not an immediate earnings shock. Samsung Galaxy S26 promotion wars
• Neutral Sentiment: Morning analyst research roundups included Verizon among many names being re-rated; this increases visibility but results will depend on follow-through from funds and whether upgrades translate into buying. Monday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls
• Negative Sentiment: Headline: Zacks flagged a decline in VZ versus a stronger market — reflecting that broader market rotation and negative macro headlines are pressuring the share price despite company fundamentals. Verizon stock sinks as market gains
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/insider-connected selling reported (Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse unloaded shares) can create short-term headline pressure and raises governance/flow questions for some investors. Shares unloaded — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $50.41 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.41. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $212.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

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.