Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Acquires 55,228 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,712,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,228 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $69,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 490.0% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $50.25 to $54.50 in a report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.59.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $191.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $34.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.82 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.950-4.990 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Verizon Communications 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.