Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Sells 17,123 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,687 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,123 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $49.10 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.51. The company has a market capitalization of $207.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s 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, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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.