Leo Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Leo Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,089 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $637,812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $49.46 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $208.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $48.55 and its 200 day moving average is $43.47.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

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.