Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 79,680 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 58.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 79,680 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 379,402,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,453,058,000 after buying an additional 5,497,598 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 51.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after buying an additional 4,905,101 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $161,346,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $385,983,000 after buying an additional 2,965,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price objective on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. William Blair upgraded Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:VZ opened at $47.84 on Friday. 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 1.38, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.07. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $428,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,189,100. The trade was a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.