Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,915 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 689,809 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,317,000 after buying an additional 56,000 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 67,821 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 70,251 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,088,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 12,179,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $535,304,000 after purchasing an additional 213,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 32,224 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock 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 stock has a market cap 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’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, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.02.

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.