FourThought Financial Partners LLC Buys 30,865 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,131 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,865 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,504,150,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 51.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $637,812,000 after buying an additional 4,905,101 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after buying an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after buying an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $212.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.30. 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 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.