Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 110.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 528,459 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 277,282 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 lifted its position 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 period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position 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 period. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owned 145,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.
Verizon Communications News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:
Verizon Communications Price Performance
Shares of VZ stock opened at $46.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The company has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.82.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 69.88%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.56.
Read Our Latest Report on VZ
Verizon Communications Company Profile
(
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.
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