Todd Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Todd Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 466,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 230,292 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after acquiring an additional 557,576 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,238,866,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203,445 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $992,939,000 after acquiring an additional 646,537 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $48.43 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.12 and a 200-day moving average of $44.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $202.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.24.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

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.