Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Sells Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock

Key Points

• Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sold shares of Verizon Communications valued between $1,001 and $15,000 on September 4th, as disclosed in a filing made on October 3rd.
• Verizon Communications recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.69, payable on November 3rd, representing an annualized yield of 6.3%.
• The company's stock has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $47.53, following various revisions from research analysts.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Verizon Communications Inc. NYSE: VZ. In a filing disclosed on October 03rd, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Verizon Communications stock on September 4th.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Amgen NASDAQ: AMGN on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Honeywell International NASDAQ: HON on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Apple NASDAQ: AAPL on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 9/4/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Kenvue NYSE: KVUE on 8/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Danaher NYSE: DHR on 8/28/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of UnitedHealth Group NYSE: UNH on 8/28/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Lam Research NASDAQ: LRCX on 8/28/2025.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.68 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $184.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.636-4.728 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Institutional Trading of Verizon Communications

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 301.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,504,920 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $385,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,385,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.53.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2031. Whitehouse (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).

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