Comerica Bank Sells 52,202 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,023,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 52,202 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $44,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $2,504,150,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,189,100. This represents a 16.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $429,905.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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. Scotiabank raised Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $51.36 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.15%.

More Verizon Communications News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4/earnings + guidance — Verizon beat Q4 EPS estimates and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.90–$4.95, reinforcing cash flow and dividend coverage that investors prize. This underpins the stock’s recent upward move and supports dividend-focused buying. MarketBeat VZ overview
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Oppenheimer set a new $56 price target on VZ, suggesting upside from current levels and giving investors confidence in consensus estimates and valuation support. Oppenheimer price target
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership/enterprise traction — Coverage of Kodiak AI’s milestones highlights expanded partnerships with Verizon, signaling enterprise & network monetization opportunities beyond core wireless services. That diversification can boost long-term revenue potential. Kodiak AI partnership mention
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscriber momentum — Analysts note solid postpaid phone adds and fixed wireless subscriber growth, which improve churn and lifetime value but have yet to fully translate into stronger service revenue growth. This is constructive for ARPU stability and churn metrics. Zacks subscriber growth article
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue ceiling risk — Despite subscriber gains, analysts and company commentary expect wireless service revenues to remain roughly flat near-term, which could cap share-price upside until service revenue or margin expansion resumes. Zacks revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/resilience narrative — Coverage highlighting Verizon as a high-yield, U.S.-focused defensive stock has driven demand from income-focused investors amid geopolitical volatility; this supports a higher valuation multiple relative to risk-off peers. MarketBeat dividend safe-haven piece

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.