Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 116,605 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 844,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 116,605 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after buying an additional 13,787 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 379,174 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,665,000 after purchasing an additional 46,699 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,196,000 after buying an additional 21,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 74,151 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 target price on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $48.91 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $50.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $206.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 12.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.88%.

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.