Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 569,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 48,421 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after buying an additional 557,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,238,866,000 after buying an additional 1,203,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $47.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 1.14 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.11. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

About Verizon Communications

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.