Adams Asset Advisors LLC Has $11.81 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Adams Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 289,825 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,647 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.6% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Adams Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings 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 worth $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,983,000 after buying an additional 2,965,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.32.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.27. The company has a market capitalization of $212.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. This is an increase 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 currently 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.