Employees Provident Fund Board Acquires Shares of 86,000 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 86,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,503,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:VZ opened at $45.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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