Leo Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Leo Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,089 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,490 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $49.46 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The firm has a market cap of $208.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.55 and a 200 day moving average 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost 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 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.