Navellier & Associates Inc. Has $1.32 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 47.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,259 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 10,032 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 35,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.84.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $50.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $208.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $38.39 and a one year high of $51.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.70%.

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.