Old West Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Old West Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,634 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total transaction of $53,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,348,276.88. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.58 and its 200 day moving average is $47.33. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

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.