Stevens Capital Partners Buys Shares of 26,874 Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Stevens Capital Partners bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 26,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 490.0% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $50.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $208.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.73 and a 200-day moving average of $47.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $55,066.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,825.96. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.