Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,549 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 312.0% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 17,901 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $46.43 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. 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 market capitalization of $193.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.86.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

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.