Vega Investment Solutions Has $508,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Vega Investment Solutions raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1,402.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,208 shares during the period. Vega Investment Solutions’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth 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 grew 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 valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 312.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 17,901 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% during 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. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given 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 target price of $50.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

VZ opened at $50.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.91 and its 200-day moving average is $47.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s 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. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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