Railway Pension Investments Ltd Sells 33,100 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 671,900 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 33,100 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.07 and a 200 day moving average of $47.45. The firm has a market cap of $208.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.97.

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.