Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stock: Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Increases Position

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 747,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 63,873 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $34,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,164,982 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,915,882,000 after purchasing an additional 6,580,820 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,743,274,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,794 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 32,734,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,643,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,882,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $884,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305,471 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $45.15 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.68 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $187.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.79.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and Ericsson plan a nationwide rollout of AI-powered radio-network automation. Early field deployments reportedly improved downlink throughput by up to 8.9% and uplink throughput by up to 8%, offering a potential boost to network capacity and efficiency. Verizon and Ericsson partner to transform AI-native Autonomous Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings strength and Verizon’s customer additions may help reassure investors that the carrier can contend with new rivals; a report notes that Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone customers and points to strong results and raised guidance as evidence of resilience. SpaceX Sent Verizon and T-Mobile Stocks Tumbling—Did Wall Street Overreact?
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX is reportedly discussing buying Boost Mobile or partnering with it to accelerate entry into wireless, potentially creating a new competitor. The talks remain preliminary, and Boost’s reliance on AT&T and T-Mobile network agreements could complicate a deal, but the prospect has weighed on telecom sentiment. SpaceX reportedly wants to buy Boost Mobile

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Freedom Broker upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.