Hantz Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Hantz Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,976 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,035 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after acquiring an additional 557,576 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,238,866,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $992,939,000 after acquiring an additional 646,537 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of VZ opened at $48.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $202.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.87.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

About Verizon Communications

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.