Stableford Capital II LLC Has $236,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Stableford Capital II LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 79.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 22,647 shares during the period. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.27. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The company has a market capitalization of $212.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.