HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 144,734 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,481,407 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,734 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $274,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $132,893,000. Financial Insights Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.4% in the second quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 7,323 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,016.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 271,369,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,489,796,000 after acquiring an additional 264,776,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.97.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $50.15 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total value of $55,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,437,133. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,300 shares of company stock worth $164,164. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.