Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stake Trimmed by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 110,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 19,745 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 17,901 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.2% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.09.

Key Verizon Communications News

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is moving to sell 274 company-owned retail stores to franchisees and cut roughly 3,000 jobs, a restructuring that could lower operating costs and improve margins over time. Reuters: Verizon to shed 274 stores, lay off another 500 corporate employees
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction has been favorable to the cost-reset story, with articles noting VZ rose as investors responded to the store shakeup and expense reduction plans. Yahoo Finance: VZ Stock Rises — Verizon Moves To Slash Costs With Major Store Shakeup
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank slightly raised its FY2026 earnings estimate for Verizon and kept a Hold rating, suggesting only modest near-term earnings improvement. MarketBeat analyst update
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is expected to report earnings on Friday, which keeps investors focused on whether the restructuring and broadband growth can offset slower revenue trends. American Banking News: Verizon Communications (VZ) to Post Earnings on Friday
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are cautioning that Verizon already trades at a premium relative to peers, which could limit upside if earnings growth disappoints. Trefis: VZ Earns Its Premium Over Peers. Now What?
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank also lowered its price target to $51.50, reflecting some skepticism about the pace of Verizon’s improvement. American Banking News: Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Lowered to $51.50 at Scotiabank

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications 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.