Csenge Advisory Group Buys 55,321 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 85.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,106 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 55,321 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,747,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,168,080,000 after acquiring an additional 867,694 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $50.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $45.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,444,825.96. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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