Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 940,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 63,604 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $41,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the second quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.02.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 3.2%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $48.90 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.