AGF Management Ltd. Purchases 48,035 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 64.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,024 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,035 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $46.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $195.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.02.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages lifted price targets and ratings (Citigroup to $50 with a Buy, Evercore to $50 Outperform, Scotiabank to $50.25, Morgan Stanley/JPMorgan to $49, RBC higher) — bolstering near-term upside expectations. Citigroup PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon reported a Q4 beat (EPS $1.09 vs $1.06 est.; revenue ~$36.4B vs ~$36.1B) and posted large wireless subscriber additions — fundamentals that support the rally. InsiderMonkey Q4/Subscriber Adds
• Positive Sentiment: Management actions: a raised quarterly dividend (new yield ~6.4%) plus headlines about cost cuts tied to the Frontier deal and a $25B buyback plan — both increase shareholder return potential. Yahoo Finance: Frontier deal & buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and analyst-insight pieces are circulating (Globe and Mail, Zacks, AAII) parsing valuation and whether the Q4 beat merits portfolio re‑positioning — useful reading but not an immediate catalyst. Globe and Mail analyst insights
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s stock is moving with the S&P 500 Communications Index — some of today’s move reflects sector flows rather than company-specific news. Kalkine Media
• Negative Sentiment: Senator Maria Cantwell said Verizon (and AT&T) are blocking release of key Salt Typhoon security assessment reports and called for CEOs to testify — this raises regulatory and reputational risk that investors will watch closely. Reuters: Senator on Salt Typhoon
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentaries flag margin pressure from heavy 5G and fiber investment, price lock dynamics and the potential for customer losses tied to prior price cuts — factors that could cap multiple expansion. Zacks: Margin pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Some market pieces warn Verizon may encounter technical resistance near recent highs and note CEO comments that prior price cuts hurt customer counts — caution for momentum traders. USA Today: Price cuts cost customers

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.