ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Buys Shares of 20,445 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,445 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $885,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,379 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 50,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,906 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 205,282 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,883,000 after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.3% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,353,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $58,544,000 after buying an additional 338,365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.02.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Broad analyst upgrades and price-target raises this week have pushed bullish flows and sentiment, supporting upside momentum. Shares Up After Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and capital returns look supportive: Verizon reported a Q4 beat, raised its dividend, and is executing a $25B buyback program and cost cuts — factors analysts cite for higher EPS and free-cash-flow trajectory. Seeking Alpha: Strong Momentum for 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and whether recent gains fully reflect future cash-flow strength are under debate — some coverage suggests upside remains, others urge caution on multiple expansion. Yahoo Finance: Valuation Discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-party/adjacent tech developments (AST SpaceMobile) are being watched for potential partnership or spectrum opportunities, but they’re not an immediate driver of Verizon’s core results. AST SpaceMobile Launch Targets
• Neutral Sentiment: An executive insider (EVP Joseph Russo) disclosed a sale of ~9,579 shares; notable but not uncommon and often judged case-by-case by investors. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership turnover: Verizon’s consumer unit CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath is stepping down as new CEO Dan Schulman pursues a turnaround — management changes can create short‑term execution risk during a transition. Reuters: Consumer Division Head Departing WSJ: CEO Step-Down
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/competitive friction: Verizon sued T‑Mobile alleging false advertising around savings claims — could be a distraction and bring litigation costs or escalate competitive responses. Reuters: Verizon Sues T-Mobile
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational risk: reporting and political scrutiny (e.g., calls to release Salt Typhoon security assessments) could create additional oversight or disclosure requirements investors will monitor. Reuters: Senator on Security Assessment

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the business’s 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 owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE VZ opened at $47.13 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $47.58. The stock has a market cap of $198.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 68.15%.

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.