Employees Provident Fund Board Acquires Shares of 86,000 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Employees Provident Fund Board purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 86,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,503,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,357,158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,584,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,080,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461,335 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,747,930,000 after buying an additional 5,851,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $45.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $189.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

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.