Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Position Boosted by Destination Wealth Management

Destination Wealth Management increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 537,335 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,433 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,980,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $85,698,000 after buying an additional 32,904 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 9,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 54,752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after buying an additional 4,540 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4%

VZ stock opened at $51.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.81. The stock has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

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.