Spire Wealth Management Sells 10,357 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Spire Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,357 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 83,102 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,596,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 36,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 5,315 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.56.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Federal court granted Verizon a preliminary injunction blocking a T‑Mobile ad campaign that promised large savings to switch — a competitive win that protects Verizon’s customer messaging and could limit aggressive poaching by a rival. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi recently raised its price target to $55, signaling some analyst conviction behind upside potential and supporting the narrative that Verizon’s cost cuts and acquisition could boost margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Verizon as a top dividend stock and management’s actions (CEO Dan Schulman’s cost cuts and the Frontier acquisition) reinforces the income/turnaround thesis that has supported the rally earlier this year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $47 (maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating), citing signs of a subscriber turnaround and telecom’s defensive appeal — the move is a mild vote of confidence but the PT still sits below the current market price, so its net impact is mixed. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon set its Q1 2026 earnings date for April 27. The upcoming report and webcast present a catalyst for renewed volatility as investors look for subscriber trends and progress on margin targets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is a trending stock on some retail/coverage sites (Zacks, Business Insider), which can increase attention and trading volume but doesn’t directly change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company raised the price on a heavily discounted customer offer — a potential short-term revenue boost but a risk for churn if customers react negatively, which could weigh on subscriber-growth confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent data show notable insider selling activity and some large institutional reductions in recent quarters — these flows can add selling pressure or at least create caution among investors. Article Title

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,976,739.60. This represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $9,922,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.95 and a 200-day moving average of $43.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

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.