Sit Investment Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 75,011 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays raised their target price on 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 lowered Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $45.44 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $189.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications Company 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.