Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Has $12.03 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,635 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,373 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 335,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,761,000 after purchasing an additional 13,787 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% during 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. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.4% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 140,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,915 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,667,402 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $161,182,000 after buying an additional 99,400 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake 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 worth $4,120,000 after buying an additional 74,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:VZ opened at $51.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $216.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $51.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.15%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.02.

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.