Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires Shares of 11,738 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 11,738 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,901 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,825.96. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

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.