Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,605 shares during the quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, 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 value of $428,450.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% 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 valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $49.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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