Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Newly Acquired by Factory Mutual Insurance Co.

Key Points

• Factory Mutual Insurance Co. acquired 831,616 Verizon shares in the third quarter, a stake valued at approximately $38.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 62.06% of the company.
• Verizon reported quarterly EPS of $1.31, topping the $1.27 consensus estimate, while revenue of $34.31 billion fell short of forecasts despite growing 1.5% year over year. The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.7075 per share equates to a 6.3% yield.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $51.05; several brokerages recently lowered their targets. CEO Kyle Malady also sold 1,100 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 831,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $38,146,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 34,924 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.4% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $47,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 98,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,251,238. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $516,373. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of VZ opened at $45.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.79. The stock has a market cap of $187.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.68 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.19%.

More Verizon Communications News

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and Ericsson plan a nationwide rollout of AI-powered radio-network automation. Early field deployments reportedly improved downlink throughput by up to 8.9% and uplink throughput by up to 8%, offering a potential boost to network capacity and efficiency. Verizon and Ericsson partner to transform AI-native Autonomous Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings strength and Verizon’s customer additions may help reassure investors that the carrier can contend with new rivals; a report notes that Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone customers and points to strong results and raised guidance as evidence of resilience. SpaceX Sent Verizon and T-Mobile Stocks Tumbling—Did Wall Street Overreact?
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX is reportedly discussing buying Boost Mobile or partnering with it to accelerate entry into wireless, potentially creating a new competitor. The talks remain preliminary, and Boost’s reliance on AT&T and T-Mobile network agreements could complicate a deal, but the prospect has weighed on telecom sentiment. SpaceX reportedly wants to buy Boost Mobile

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of 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 lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.05.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.

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