Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,093,206 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $46,286,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Robinswood Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $27,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its position in Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.97.
Get Our Latest Research Report on VZ
Insider Activity at Verizon Communications
In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%
Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $50.26 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $46.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $208.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.
About Verizon Communications
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
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