Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 940,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,604 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $41,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after buying an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $48.90 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $206.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.33. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The company had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given 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 5.8%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

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.