Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 338,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 28,240 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 period. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,665,000 after buying an additional 46,699 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 378.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,120,000 after buying an additional 74,151 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target on VZ to $54 (from $51) and reiterated a Buy after Verizon’s Q4 showed better-than-expected phone subscriber additions — a near-term subscriber beat that supports revenue momentum and re-rating potential. Verizon (VZ) Gets Target Hike From TD Cowen on Better-Than-Expected Phone Adds
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple value-oriented writeups (Zacks, Yahoo/MSN) argue VZ looks attractively priced on yield and fundamentals, reinforcing the investment case for income/value investors and aiding demand from dividend-focused funds. Why Verizon Communications (VZ) is a top value stock for the long term Why Verizon Communications (VZ) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting a leadership shift at Verizon frames management’s renewed customer focus as a catalyst for churn reduction and service revenue improvement — a governance/strategy signal that can support multiple re-rating channels. Verizon Leadership Shift Highlights Customer Focus And Potential Undervaluation
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market pieces assessing the “changing Verizon narrative” show Wall Street reworking VZ from a pure yield play toward a mix of value + modest growth — supporting higher multiples but also subject to execution risk. This is more thematic than news-driven, so it helps sentiment but depends on follow-through. Looking At The Verizon Communications (VZ) Narrative As Wall Street Reworks The Story
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry news on AST SpaceMobile’s satellite progress is being viewed as incremental positive optionality for carriers (including Verizon) because working direct-to-device satellite tech could expand coverage/use cases. It’s a potential long-term upside but not an immediate earnings driver for VZ. BlueBird 6 Unfolds: AST SpaceMobile Unlocks Commercial Growth

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.2%

VZ opened at $48.90 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $41.30 and a 200-day moving average of $41.84. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $206.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. 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. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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.