Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 27,706 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 201,623 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 27,706 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $1,286,423,000 after purchasing an additional 7,509,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,348,276.88. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of VZ opened at $50.12 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.58 and a 200 day moving average of $47.33. The firm has a market cap of $208.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.70%.

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.