Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by JFS Wealth Advisors LLC

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,097 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,043 shares during the quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 721,680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,394,000 after purchasing an additional 6,164 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 178,241 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,260,000 after purchasing an additional 15,629 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 29,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,505,530 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $61,320,000 after buying an additional 54,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 117,049 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,767,000 after buying an additional 5,753 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.32.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8%

VZ stock opened at $50.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $212.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.27. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.