Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires 77,991 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 610,238 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,991 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.4% in the second quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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, February 2nd. Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.02.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $47.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.00 and its 200-day moving average is $41.76. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $47.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. This is a positive change 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.