Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Newly Acquired by MFG Investments LLC

MFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,623 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Gill Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 74.6% in the second quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in Verizon Communications by 37.4% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Balance Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon and Ericsson plan a nationwide rollout of AI-powered radio-network automation. Early field deployments reportedly improved downlink throughput by up to 8.9% and uplink throughput by up to 8%, offering a potential boost to network capacity and efficiency. Verizon and Ericsson partner to transform AI-native Autonomous Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings strength and Verizon’s customer additions may help reassure investors that the carrier can contend with new rivals; a report notes that Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone customers and points to strong results and raised guidance as evidence of resilience. SpaceX Sent Verizon and T-Mobile Stocks Tumbling—Did Wall Street Overreact?
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX is reportedly discussing buying Boost Mobile or partnering with it to accelerate entry into wireless, potentially creating a new competitor. The talks remain preliminary, and Boost’s reliance on AT&T and T-Mobile network agreements could complicate a deal, but the prospect has weighed on telecom sentiment. SpaceX reportedly wants to buy Boost Mobile

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $45.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.68 and a one year high of $51.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $47,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $516,373. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.