Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 86,675 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,971,690 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,675 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Verizon Communications worth $526,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,504,150,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $637,812,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday. Barclays initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.66.

Key Headlines Impacting Verizon Communications

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded VZ to Outperform and raised its price target to $54.50 after meetings with management — a direct bullish catalyst that supports higher near-term upside and investor confidence. Scotiabank Lifts Verizon to Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer increased its price target to $56 and keeps an Outperform rating (about a ~10% upside from current levels) — another independent upgrade adding analyst-driven buying interest.
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply in February (down ~23.5% to ~113.5M shares, ~2.7% of float; ~4.3 days to cover). Less short exposure reduces downside pressure and raises the prospect of short-covering rallies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage/valuation pieces are drawing attention to recent share-price momentum and relative cheapness given VZ’s earnings/guidance; these articles can attract investors doing deeper due diligence but don’t move fundamentals immediately. Valuation Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Verizon’s presentation/transcript from the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom conference is available — useful for earnings/guidance color but only incremental unless management disclosed new guidance. Deutsche Bank Presentation Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/capital-markets note: Amazon’s massive $37B bond deal highlights renewed large-scale corporate issuance — this can affect broader credit market liquidity and borrowing costs, which are an indirect factor for capital-intensive companies like Verizon. Amazon Bond Sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces (e.g., “3 Stocks I Sold Last Week”) mentioned cutting some resilient/low-growth names — relevance to VZ is unclear without explicit inclusion, but such narratives can pressure investor sentiment in dividend/utility-like names. 3 Stocks I Sold

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, Director Hans Erik Vestberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $9,922,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 145,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,873.09. This trade represents a 57.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 9,579 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total value of $429,905.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,976,739.60. This trade represents a 17.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 218,148 shares of company stock valued at $10,780,356. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $50.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $213.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $51.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.20 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.03%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.15%.

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.