Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Forum Financial Management LP

Key Points

• Forum Financial Management LP sharply cut its Verizon stake by 74.6% in the first quarter, selling 57,081 shares and leaving 19,414 shares valued at about $975,000.
• Other institutional investors remain heavily involved in Verizon, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Norges Bank holding large positions; overall, 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Verizon has received mixed analyst sentiment, but the consensus remains Moderate Buy with a $50.59 price target, even as the stock traded down 5.1% and the company reported quarterly EPS that beat estimates while revenue came in slightly below forecasts.

Forum Financial Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 74.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,414 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 57,081 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after buying an additional 7,509,055 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after buying an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.59.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and BT Group announced a 50:50 joint venture to combine their international enterprise operations, which could strengthen Verizon’s global connectivity offering and improve its long-term competitiveness. Reuters article on BT, Verizon announce joint venture for international enterprise units
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary notes that the BT-Verizon deal could simplify Verizon’s international operations and better position the company for multinational enterprise customers, but the benefit is likely longer term. WSJ article on BT, Verizon to Form International Joint Venture
• Negative Sentiment: Verizon was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, creating index rebalancing pressure and likely heavy selling from passive funds tracking the benchmark. MSN article on Dow Jones S&P indices replaces Verizon with Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Verizon expects an estimated second-quarter loss tied to asset reclassification and restructuring charges added to concerns about earnings quality and near-term profitability. Seeking Alpha article on Verizon reclassifies assets, expects estimated Q2 loss
• Negative Sentiment: Broader telecom weakness was also amplified by speculation that SpaceX/Starlink could eventually challenge legacy wireless carriers, increasing competitive pressure on Verizon. Barron's article on SpaceX might bring mobile phone to market

Verizon Communications Trading Down 5.1%

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $184.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.89.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications 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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