Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ is LSV Asset Management’s 10th Largest Position

LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,179,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 213,297 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.2% of LSV Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. LSV Asset Management owned 0.29% of Verizon Communications worth $535,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $2,504,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $113,004,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target on VZ to $54 (from $51) and reiterated a Buy after Verizon’s Q4 showed better-than-expected phone subscriber additions — a near-term subscriber beat that supports revenue momentum and re-rating potential. Verizon (VZ) Gets Target Hike From TD Cowen on Better-Than-Expected Phone Adds
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple value-oriented writeups (Zacks, Yahoo/MSN) argue VZ looks attractively priced on yield and fundamentals, reinforcing the investment case for income/value investors and aiding demand from dividend-focused funds. Why Verizon Communications (VZ) is a top value stock for the long term Why Verizon Communications (VZ) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting a leadership shift at Verizon frames management’s renewed customer focus as a catalyst for churn reduction and service revenue improvement — a governance/strategy signal that can support multiple re-rating channels. Verizon Leadership Shift Highlights Customer Focus And Potential Undervaluation
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market pieces assessing the “changing Verizon narrative” show Wall Street reworking VZ from a pure yield play toward a mix of value + modest growth — supporting higher multiples but also subject to execution risk. This is more thematic than news-driven, so it helps sentiment but depends on follow-through. Looking At The Verizon Communications (VZ) Narrative As Wall Street Reworks The Story
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry news on AST SpaceMobile’s satellite progress is being viewed as incremental positive optionality for carriers (including Verizon) because working direct-to-device satellite tech could expand coverage/use cases. It’s a potential long-term upside but not an immediate earnings driver for VZ. BlueBird 6 Unfolds: AST SpaceMobile Unlocks Commercial Growth

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.2%

VZ stock opened at $48.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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.