Salvus Wealth Management LLC Buys 12,607 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 146.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,234 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 12,607 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $2,504,150,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,276,809 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $637,812,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $161,346,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, January 26th. Williams Trading set a $54.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.32.

Verizon Communications News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement of Fractus patent suit removes a multi-quarter legal overhang tied to antenna/IP claims, improving legal and cash‑flow risk visibility for Verizon. Fractus and Verizon settle patent litigation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see the settlement positively for risk profile and dividend resiliency; commentary highlights Verizon’s fixed wireless access strategy and reduced litigation uncertainty. How Investors May Respond To Verizon (VZ) Settling Fractus Patent Dispute And Easing Legal Overhang
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target, signaling confidence in Verizon’s outlook and likely supporting buying interest after recent gains. Verizon Receives a Vote of Confidence as Goldman Sachs Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Separate analyst upgrades pushed near‑term sentiment higher; one report notes a post‑upgrade share uptick. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Stock Price Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~16% in March, indicating some short covering which can reduce downward pressure and support the stock. (Data reported 3/24/2026)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst fair‑value estimates nudged higher (to ~$50.76), a modest adjustment that suggests mixed but not dramatic changes to consensus valuation. How The Verizon (VZ) Investment Story Is Shifting On Costs Transparency And Fair Value Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage in broad “mega‑cap” pieces keeps Verizon on investors’ radar but doesn’t materially change fundamentals. 2 Mega-Cap Stocks Worth Your Attention and 1 We Turn Down
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positives, a headline noting the stock “sank as the market gained” captures intraday selling pressure and suggests short‑term weakness/rotation out of Verizon. Verizon Communications (VZ) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious about disclosure quality and reporting changes; that ambivalence can cap upgrades and keep volatility elevated. How The Verizon (VZ) Investment Story Is Shifting On Costs Transparency And Fair Value Estimates

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The firm has a market cap of $212.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.7075 dividend. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.15%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. The trade was a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by 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.