Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Buys Shares of 51,513 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 51,513 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $2,181,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 28,557 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 8,677 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 491.8% during the 2nd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 25,686 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 21,346 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 17,300 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded Verizon Communications to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $46.38 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 73.70%.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is waiving calling, texting and data charges for consumer and small-business customers affected by Washington wildfires through August 31 and has deployed a disaster-resilience connectivity vehicle. The effort could reinforce customer loyalty and Verizon’s reputation for network reliability. Verizon Helps Families Stay Connected During Washington Wildfires
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon and other telecom executives have recently argued that satellite connectivity is unlikely to materially disrupt their core businesses in the near term. Satellite service currently focuses primarily on coverage gaps and emergency connectivity, rather than replacing mainstream cellular networks. SpaceX’s Starlink Threat Sends Telecom Stocks Lower Premarket
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX plans to expand Starlink Mobile into a full-fledged wireless offering by 2027, using its satellite network and planned terrestrial assets to target consumer and enterprise customers served by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. The prospect of additional competition raises concerns about customer losses, pricing pressure and higher promotional or network-investment costs for Verizon. Verizon Faces A New Threat As SpaceX Plans A Mobile Network
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX executives indicated that Starlink Mobile could win “quite a few” customers from the major wireless carriers. This amplified investor concerns and contributed to weakness across wireless stocks, despite uncertainty about the scale and timing of the competitive impact. SpaceX says it's coming for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers

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.

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