Birch Financial Group LLC Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Birch Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 71.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,738 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,299 shares during the quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 note on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.32.

Verizon Communications News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management execution: new CEO Dan Schulman has driven aggressive cost cuts and closed the $20B Frontier acquisition, which the market views as accelerating scale and margin improvement; analysts and income investors are re-rating VZ on the “new Verizon” narrative. Verizon remains a top dividend stock for passive income
• Positive Sentiment: Legal/competitive win: a federal judge granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking T‑Mobile’s ad campaign that promised large consumer savings — a potential help to churn and pricing competitiveness. Verizon wins injunction blocking T‑Mobile ad campaign
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend/income appeal: multiple payout-focused writeups highlight VZ’s ~5.5% yield and improving operating profile, supporting demand from income-focused funds. 3 Investments With Solid Yields Powering Through Market Weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Catalyst: Verizon will report Q1 2026 results on April 27 (webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET) — this is the next major event that could move the stock based on subscriber trends, margin progress and guidance. Verizon to report earnings April 27, 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/analyst views: Citi and other analysts have increased price targets (one recent bump to $55), reflecting confidence in upside if cost saves and convergence strategies continue to gain traction. Verizon Communications (VZ) Price Target Bumped to $55
• Negative Sentiment: Customer-pricing risk: Verizon raised the price on a popular discounted offer, which could hurt acquisition/retention if consumers react — notable since management previously flagged price-sensitivity as a contributor to past losses. Verizon raises price on key discounted offer for customers
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional selling: recent data show insider sales and large institutional position reductions by some firms — these moves can pressure sentiment even if they don’t reflect company fundamentals. Verizon Communications Inc. to Report First-Quarter 2026 Earnings on April 27

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE VZ opened at $50.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $211.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.30. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.73 and its 200 day moving average is $43.31.

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 business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. 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 fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.