Johnson Financial Group Inc. Has $4.96 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Johnson Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,824 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,543 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,904,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,433,114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,733 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,238,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $992,939,000 after acquiring an additional 646,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

VZ stock opened at $50.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.78.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has 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, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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.