Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,262 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,521,000 after purchasing an additional 17,495 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,665,000 after purchasing an additional 46,699 shares in the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after buying an additional 14,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,196,000 after buying an additional 21,915 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $49.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.51. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s 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, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.15%.

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.