Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Boosted by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,793 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,676 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after purchasing an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,521,000 after buying an additional 17,495 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,665,000 after buying an additional 46,699 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 14,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,196,000 after acquiring an additional 21,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value 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 $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. William Blair raised Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $49.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $208.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

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.