Chemung Canal Trust Co. Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Chemung Canal Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 66.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 43,551 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,504,150,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake 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 worth $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $161,346,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, 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 sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. William Blair raised Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.32.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of VZ opened at $50.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.27. The stock has a market cap of $212.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s 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 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 represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

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.