Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Has $5.33 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its stake in Verizon by 112.4% in Q3 to 121,344 shares, valued at about $5.33 million.
• Verizon beat Q4 EPS (reported $1.09 vs. $1.06 est.) and set FY2026 guidance of $4.90–$4.95, supporting its cash-flow and dividend outlook.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.7075 (annualized $2.83), yielding roughly 5.5%, boosting its appeal to income-focused investors.

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 112.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,344 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 64,201 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

VZ stock opened at $51.36 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.67. The company has a market capitalization of $216.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $45.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.15%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Verizon Communications News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

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.

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