Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Holdings Lifted by Heritage Trust Co

Heritage Trust Co increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,852 shares during the period. Heritage Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the second quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 234,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,912,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,892,000. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 804,576 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,066,000 after acquiring an additional 12,824 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 208,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,824,000 after acquiring an additional 16,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 106,343 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,503,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $50.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $208.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.39 and a 12 month high of $51.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.68, for a total value of $53,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,348,276.88. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% 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.