Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Chemung Canal Trust Co.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 66.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 43,551 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,490 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $50.34 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.27. 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 capitalization of $212.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for 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%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.32.

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.