M3 Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

M3 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 62,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,551,000. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 2.0% of M3 Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $385,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of VZ opened at $48.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.06 and its 200 day moving average is $44.93. The company has a market capitalization of $202.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The company had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.