Centaurus Financial Inc. Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Centaurus Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 36.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,102 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,073 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,168,080,000 after purchasing an additional 867,694 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,117,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,289,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $50.11 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Freedom Capital raised Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.