Madison Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 12,826 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. St. James Investment Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,174,000. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 466,396 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,996,000 after buying an additional 89,826 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 2,887,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $117,620,000 after buying an additional 125,100 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 11,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 23,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The FCC approved Verizon’s $1 billion spectrum purchase from U.S. Cellular, removing a key regulatory hurdle and supporting Verizon’s efforts to expand network capacity and coverage. FCC approves Verizon’s $1 billion spectrum purchase
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon also launched a $4 billion junior subordinated notes offering and related debt exchange/tender activity, which suggests management is actively restructuring and extending its capital profile to improve financial flexibility. Verizon Strengthens Capital Structure with $4 Billion Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile said they plan to form a joint venture to improve rural coverage using satellite-based technology, a move that could improve service quality and reduce long-term coverage gaps. US wireless carriers to launch joint venture to address rural dead zones
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon announced additional layoffs as part of a broader cost-cutting and AI automation push, which may help margins but also signals ongoing restructuring pressure. Verizon Announces New Layoffs as Cost-Cutting Continues Into 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains around Verizon’s heavy debt load and the need for repeated capital-structure changes, which can raise questions about balance-sheet risk even as the company refinances and reorganizes its obligations. Verizon Debt Moves Reshape Capital Structure And Investor Risk Profile
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to customer-retention pressure and plan changes that could drive churn, offsetting the more constructive news on spectrum and network expansion. Verizon’s latest phone plan change may drive away consumers

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $47.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

About Verizon Communications

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.