Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 40,146 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 37.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 40,146 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,904,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,433,114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,733 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $2,504,150,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after purchasing an additional 557,576 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 28,188,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,238,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. William Blair raised shares of Verizon Communications to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.03.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $50.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $213.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 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 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’s fifty day moving average is $45.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.90.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, SVP Mary-Lee Stillwell sold 8,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $428,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,782 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,100. This trade represents a 16.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,976,739.60. The trade was a 17.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock worth $10,780,356 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.