University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,903 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 45,239 shares during the quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,286,423,000 after buying an additional 7,509,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after buying an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $47.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $196.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 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 analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

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.