BTC Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

BTC Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 44.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,560 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 52,230 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a market cap of $211.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

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.