Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 116,480 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,122,959 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 116,480 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $47,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 17,901 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Eight 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.97.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.26 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business 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%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,825.96. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications 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.

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