Erste Asset Management GmbH Acquires 16,546 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 64.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,090 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,546 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 4,309,428 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $175,523,000 after buying an additional 168,597 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 250.8% in the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 57,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,008 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $975,000. Bcwm LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bcwm LLC now owns 115,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,694,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9,331.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 701,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $28,558,000 after buying an additional 693,718 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.36. The company has a market cap of $191.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. 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 data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

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.