Violich Capital Management Inc. Has $4.62 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Violich Capital Management cut its stake in Verizon by 25.9%, selling 39,752 shares and leaving it with 113,510 shares valued at about $4.62 million.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares (~$9.92M) and SVP Mary‑Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares, leaving insiders with just 0.03% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment is a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $50.59; Verizon beat quarterly EPS estimates and set FY2026 guidance of $4.95–$4.99 per share.

Violich Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,510 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 39,752 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $637,812,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $385,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 145,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $47.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.24. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.20. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during 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 firm'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 predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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