Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,584,049 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 33,107 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $69,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,761,000 after buying an additional 13,787 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $16,665,000 after acquiring an additional 46,699 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $6,196,000 after acquiring an additional 21,915 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,667,402 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $161,182,000 after acquiring an additional 99,400 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,120,000 after acquiring an additional 74,151 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications 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 $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.66.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Price Performance
Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $45.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.41.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The company 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%. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.15%.
Verizon Communications News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded VZ to Outperform and raised its price target to $54.50 after meetings with management — a direct bullish catalyst that supports higher near-term upside and investor confidence. Scotiabank Lifts Verizon to Outperform
- Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer increased its price target to $56 and keeps an Outperform rating (about a ~10% upside from current levels) — another independent upgrade adding analyst-driven buying interest.
- Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply in February (down ~23.5% to ~113.5M shares, ~2.7% of float; ~4.3 days to cover). Less short exposure reduces downside pressure and raises the prospect of short-covering rallies.
- Neutral Sentiment: Coverage/valuation pieces are drawing attention to recent share-price momentum and relative cheapness given VZ’s earnings/guidance; these articles can attract investors doing deeper due diligence but don’t move fundamentals immediately. Valuation Article
- Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s presentation/transcript from the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom conference is available — useful for earnings/guidance color but only incremental unless management disclosed new guidance. Deutsche Bank Presentation Transcript
- Neutral Sentiment: Macro/capital-markets note: Amazon’s massive $37B bond deal highlights renewed large-scale corporate issuance — this can affect broader credit market liquidity and borrowing costs, which are an indirect factor for capital-intensive companies like Verizon. Amazon Bond Sale
- Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces (e.g., “3 Stocks I Sold Last Week”) mentioned cutting some resilient/low-growth names — relevance to VZ is unclear without explicit inclusion, but such narratives can pressure investor sentiment in dividend/utility-like names. 3 Stocks I Sold
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report).
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