Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 33,107 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,584,049 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 33,107 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $69,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the third 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 period. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded VZ to Outperform and raised its price target to $54.50 after meetings with management — a direct bullish catalyst that supports higher near-term upside and investor confidence. Scotiabank Lifts Verizon to Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer increased its price target to $56 and keeps an Outperform rating (about a ~10% upside from current levels) — another independent upgrade adding analyst-driven buying interest.
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply in February (down ~23.5% to ~113.5M shares, ~2.7% of float; ~4.3 days to cover). Less short exposure reduces downside pressure and raises the prospect of short-covering rallies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage/valuation pieces are drawing attention to recent share-price momentum and relative cheapness given VZ’s earnings/guidance; these articles can attract investors doing deeper due diligence but don’t move fundamentals immediately. Valuation Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s presentation/transcript from the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom conference is available — useful for earnings/guidance color but only incremental unless management disclosed new guidance. Deutsche Bank Presentation Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/capital-markets note: Amazon’s massive $37B bond deal highlights renewed large-scale corporate issuance — this can affect broader credit market liquidity and borrowing costs, which are an indirect factor for capital-intensive companies like Verizon. Amazon Bond Sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces (e.g., “3 Stocks I Sold Last Week”) mentioned cutting some resilient/low-growth names — relevance to VZ is unclear without explicit inclusion, but such narratives can pressure investor sentiment in dividend/utility-like names. 3 Stocks I Sold

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.66 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.73. The stock has a market cap of $213.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications 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.