California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 2,719,814 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,417,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,719,814 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $723,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avanza Fonder AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 331,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,521,000 after purchasing an additional 17,495 shares during the period. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 78,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 14,862 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 713,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,790,000 after buying an additional 31,354 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,197,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $89,499,000 after buying an additional 639,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 697.0% in the fourth quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 471,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,189,000 after buying an additional 412,018 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.50 to $51.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.09.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.07. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 12.46%.Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.02%.

Key Stories Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Verizon is moving to sell 274 company-owned retail stores to franchisees and cut roughly 3,000 jobs, a restructuring that could lower operating costs and improve margins over time. Reuters: Verizon to shed 274 stores, lay off another 500 corporate employees
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction has been favorable to the cost-reset story, with articles noting VZ rose as investors responded to the store shakeup and expense reduction plans. Yahoo Finance: VZ Stock Rises — Verizon Moves To Slash Costs With Major Store Shakeup
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank slightly raised its FY2026 earnings estimate for Verizon and kept a Hold rating, suggesting only modest near-term earnings improvement. MarketBeat analyst update
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon is expected to report earnings on Friday, which keeps investors focused on whether the restructuring and broadband growth can offset slower revenue trends. American Banking News: Verizon Communications (VZ) to Post Earnings on Friday
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are cautioning that Verizon already trades at a premium relative to peers, which could limit upside if earnings growth disappoints. Trefis: VZ Earns Its Premium Over Peers. Now What?
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank also lowered its price target to $51.50, reflecting some skepticism about the pace of Verizon’s improvement. American Banking News: Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Price Target Lowered to $51.50 at Scotiabank

About Verizon Communications

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.