Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 72,090 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,700,139 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 72,090 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $71,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,951,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,080,810,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461,335 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 116,570,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,747,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,632,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,168,080,000 after buying an additional 867,694 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after buying an additional 8,289,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,357,158,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $55,066.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,444,825.96. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of VZ opened at $50.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $34.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.16 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 11.64%.Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.990-5.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given 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 currently 73.70%.

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.