Baer Investment Advisory LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Baer Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 12,717 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avanza Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,521,000 after acquiring an additional 17,495 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 14,862 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $89,499,000 after buying an additional 639,380 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 697.0% in the 4th quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,189,000 after purchasing an additional 412,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Verizon as an attractive value stock, with Zacks citing favorable style-score characteristics that may appeal to value-focused investors. Here’s Why Verizon Communications (VZ) is a Strong Value Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon’s dividend profile is still a key support for the shares, with comparisons to AT&T emphasizing Verizon’s long record of dividend increases and its appeal to income investors. Better High-Yield Dividend Stock: Verizon or AT&T?
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and BT Group announced a $4 billion international enterprise joint venture, which could expand Verizon’s global business services reach and improve growth prospects. Is Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) Stock Positioned for Growth After $4B International Enterprise Partnership?
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is getting more trading attention from retail investors, which may reflect renewed interest but does not by itself change the company’s fundamentals. Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street expects Verizon’s upcoming quarterly earnings to show modest profit growth, making the next report an important catalyst but not a clear surprise yet. What to Expect From Verizon Communications’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage about Starlink’s push into mobile service raises longer-term competitive pressure on Verizon and other wireless carriers, even though major infrastructure hurdles remain. Starlink Dominates Internet From Space. Can It Disrupt AT&T and Verizon on the Ground?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.56 and its 200 day moving average is $45.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors 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 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 69.02%.

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.