Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.13 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 69.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 63,340 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.3% in 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. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the third 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. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.34 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.27. The company has a market cap of $212.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.32.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Company 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.