Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors raised its stake in Verizon by 14.9% in Q4 to 319,967 shares (worth about $13.03 million), and several other funds also increased positions as institutional ownership stands at ~62.06%.
• Verizon beat Q1 EPS estimates ($1.28 vs. $1.21) while revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $34.44 billion; the company set FY2026 guidance of 4.95–4.99 EPS (consensus ~4.96).
• Senior insiders sold significant stock positions recently — SVP Mary‑Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares and Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares (about $9.92 million), leaving insiders with roughly 0.03% ownership.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 41,608 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 17,742 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,714 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,835 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,433,000 after purchasing an additional 16,150 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 141.3% in the 4th quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 13,610 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 7,970 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 57,429 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manske Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Manske Wealth Management now owns 85,155 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE VZ opened at $47.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $48.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.20. The company has a market capitalization of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.59.

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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