Johnson Financial Group Inc. Has $4.96 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Johnson Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,824 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,543 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% in the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 739.5% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.4% in the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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. Weiss Ratings raised Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2%

VZ opened at $50.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.19 and its 200 day moving average is $42.78. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $51.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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.