Perpetual Ltd Purchases 19,676 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,793 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,676 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 8,480 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 248,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,595.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 4,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Finally, Partners Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $49.46 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $208.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications 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.