Csenge Advisory Group Purchases 55,321 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 120,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,321 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 312.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 23,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 17,901 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate 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.