Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stock Position Decreased by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its Verizon stake by 36.3%, selling 1,441,420 shares and leaving 2,532,454 shares worth about $103.15 million (≈0.06% of VZ).
• Verizon reported Q1 EPS beat ($1.28 vs. $1.21) and raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $4.95–$4.99, supported by the first positive postpaid phone net adds since 2013 and record adjusted EBITDA, though revenue slightly missed consensus and a January outage weighed on top‑line results.
• Analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $50.22; Verizon also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.7075 (≈6.0% yield), while insiders sold over 218,000 shares (~$10.78M) in the past 90 days.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,532,454 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 1,441,420 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $103,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.22.

Key Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Beat-and-raise: Verizon reported Q1 adjusted EPS above estimates and raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $4.95–$4.99, giving investors confidence in cash flow and earnings visibility. Verizon lifts annual profit forecast (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Subscriber and margin surprise: Verizon delivered its first positive Q1 postpaid phone net adds since 2013 and reported record adjusted EBITDA and stronger margins — a core reason traders are rewarding the stock despite a modest revenue miss. Verizon's Turnaround Story (Yahoo Finance)
• Positive Sentiment: Large‑addressable AI/5G opportunity: Management said it is in advanced talks with hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises to deploy fiber + 5G for AI infrastructure — a potential multibillion-dollar revenue stream if commercialized. Verizon lifts profit guidance after solid Q1 (Proactive)
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue slight miss: Q1 revenue of ~$34.4B narrowly missed consensus (~$34.8B); investors are focusing on margins, EBITDA and subs instead of the top‑line shortfall. Why investors are ignoring the revenue miss (Invezz)
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market backdrop: The Dow was softer while chip/AI names drove market moves; sector and index action may amplify or temper VZ’s intraday reaction. Stock Market Today: Dow Dips (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue headwinds from outage: Management noted that a January network outage weighed on revenue — a reminder that operational incidents can blunt top‑line momentum even as costs and margins improve. Verizon adds wireless subscribers but outage affected revenue (WSJ)

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $47.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.90. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $196.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.79 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 69.88%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was 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 represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.