BTC Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

BTC Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 44.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 65,560 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 52,230 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 83,102 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 36,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 5,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $47.95 and a 200 day moving average of $43.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

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. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. 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. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Evercore increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Federal court granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking a T‑Mobile ad campaign that promised large savings to switch — a competitive win that protects Verizon’s customer messaging and could limit aggressive poaching by a rival. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi recently raised its price target to $55, signaling some analyst conviction behind upside potential and supporting the narrative that Verizon’s cost cuts and acquisition could boost margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Verizon as a top dividend stock and management’s actions (CEO Dan Schulman’s cost cuts and the Frontier acquisition) reinforces the income/turnaround thesis that has supported the rally earlier this year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $47 (maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating), citing signs of a subscriber turnaround and telecom’s defensive appeal — the move is a mild vote of confidence but the PT still sits below the current market price, so its net impact is mixed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon set its Q1 2026 earnings date for April 27. The upcoming report and webcast present a catalyst for renewed volatility as investors look for subscriber trends and progress on margin targets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is a trending stock on some retail/coverage sites (Zacks, Business Insider), which can increase attention and trading volume but doesn’t directly change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a potential short-term revenue boost but a risk for churn if customers react negatively, which could weigh on subscriber-growth confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent data show notable insider selling activity and some large institutional reductions in recent quarters — these flows can add selling pressure or at least create caution among investors. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director 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. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.