Danske Bank A S raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,088,043 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 375,996 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.07% of Verizon Communications worth $130,748,000 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. USS Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 317,284 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $13,434,000 after purchasing an additional 25,156 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,382,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $97,059,000 after purchasing an additional 316,854 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 127.0% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 184,170 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,798,000 after purchasing an additional 103,046 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,171,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.84.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $50.18 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $45.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.70%.
Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications
In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Verizon Communications 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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