Econ Financial Services Corp Buys 14,862 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 14,862 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.6% of Econ Financial Services Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Econ Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nikulski Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $510,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,209,848 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,277,000 after acquiring an additional 48,942 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,075,000 after acquiring an additional 5,792 shares during the period. Finally, Shrier Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $1,817,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Federal court granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking a T‑Mobile ad campaign that promised large savings to switch — a competitive win that protects Verizon’s customer messaging and could limit aggressive poaching by a rival. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi recently raised its price target to $55, signaling some analyst conviction behind upside potential and supporting the narrative that Verizon’s cost cuts and acquisition could boost margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Verizon as a top dividend stock and management’s actions (CEO Dan Schulman’s cost cuts and the Frontier acquisition) reinforces the income/turnaround thesis that has supported the rally earlier this year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $47 (maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating), citing signs of a subscriber turnaround and telecom’s defensive appeal — the move is a mild vote of confidence but the PT still sits below the current market price, so its net impact is mixed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon set its Q1 2026 earnings date for April 27. The upcoming report and webcast present a catalyst for renewed volatility as investors look for subscriber trends and progress on margin targets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is a trending stock on some retail/coverage sites (Zacks, Business Insider), which can increase attention and trading volume but doesn’t directly change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a potential short-term revenue boost but a risk for churn if customers react negatively, which could weigh on subscriber-growth confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent data show notable insider selling activity and some large institutional reductions in recent quarters — these flows can add selling pressure or at least create caution among investors. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This 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. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.95 and its 200-day moving average is $43.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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.