Calydon Capital Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Calydon Capital lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 144,132 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,555 shares during the quarter. Calydon Capital’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the second quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $216.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.82.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’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 forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This represents a 57.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.